Global InformationPoverty in Mexico information
| Poverty Headcount Ratio (2010)[1] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Poverty Trend | World Bank | |
| Live with less than $1.00 a day | 0.7% (0.8 mi) | |
| Live with less than $2.00 a day | 4.5% (5.1 million) | |
| Live with less than $2.50 a day | 8.8% (10.9 million) | |
| Live with less than $4.00 a day | 23.7% (26.9 million) | |
| Live with less than $5.00 a day | 33.2% (37.6 million) | |
Poverty in Mexico deals with the incidence of poverty in Mexico and its measurement. It is measured based on social development laws in the country and under parameters such as nutrition, clean water, shelter, education, health care, social security, quality and availability of basic services in households, income and social cohesion.[2] It is divided in two categories: moderate poverty and extreme poverty.
Poverty is probably one of the main challenges to overcome for any governmental administration; however, it would be important to understand it more thoroughly to see how complex and extensive it is. There are various types of poverty; which are, on the one hand, poverty per se, and on the other, extreme poverty.
According to CONEVAL,[3] the institution designated to measure poverty in Mexico, poverty analysis should not only look at monetary income but also at social factors. Six different lacks serve as indicators in terms of measuring poverty,[3] which are educational backwardness, access to health services, access to social security, access to (decent) food, quality of housing spaces, and finally access to basic services in housing (having a roof to live in and access to certain goods and services).
To be considered poor, it is enough to have an income below the well-being line (income that is less than food and non-food basic basket), regardless of the amount of social deficiencies that the person has, if any.
On the other hand, there is extreme poverty, the most precarious situation in which a person can be,[3] and this is manifested when the income received by a person is less than the food basket and also has three or more lacks previously mentioned.
While less than 2% of Mexico's population lives below the international poverty line set by the World Bank, as of 2013, Mexico's government estimates that 33% of the population lives in moderate poverty and 9% lives in extreme poverty,[4] which leads to 42% of Mexico's total population living below the national poverty line.[5] The extreme gap is explained by the government's adoption of the multidimensional poverty method as a way to measure poverty, which outlines that a person with an income above the "international poverty line" or "well being income line", set by the Mexican government, falls in the "moderate poverty" category if he or she has one or more deficiencies related to social rights such as education (did not complete studies), nutrition (malnutrition or obesity), or living standards (access to elemental services such as water or electricity, and secondary domestic assets, such as refrigerators). Extreme poverty is defined by the Mexican government as deficiencies in both social rights and incomes lower than the "well being income line".[6] Additional figures from SEDESOL (Mexico's social development agency) estimate that 6% of the population (7.4 million people) lives in extreme poverty and suffers from food insecurity.[7]
The high numbers of poverty in the country, despite Mexico's positive potential is a recurrent topic of discussion among professionals.[8] Some economists have speculated that in four more decades of continuous economic growth, even with emigration and violence, Mexico will be among the five biggest economies in the world, along with China, the United States, Japan, and India.[9]
Recently, extensive changes in government economic policy[10] and attempts at reducing government interference through privatization of several sectors,[11] allowed Mexico to remain the biggest economy in Latin America [12] up until 2005 when it became the second-largest.[13] Despite these changes, Mexico continues to suffer great social inequality and lack of opportunities.[14] The previous administration made an attempt at reducing poverty in the country by providing more professional and educational opportunities to its citizens, as well as establishing a universal healthcare.[15][16]
- ^ "Mexico - New Global Poverty Estimates". World Bank.
- ^ Mexican Congress (4 January 2004). "Mexican Congress Bill, General Law of Social Development" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
- ^ a b c "CONEVAL Consejo Nacional de Evaluación de la Política de Desarrollo Social | CONEVAL". www.coneval.org.mx. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
- ^ "1.4 millones de mexicanos dejan la pobreza extrema entre 2010 y 2012". Animal político. 29 July 2013. Archived from the original on 7 July 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
- ^ "Clases medias en México" (PDF). INEGI. 12 June 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 July 2013. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
- ^ "La medición oficial de la pobreza en México". EstePaís.com. 1 March 2011. Archived from the original on 15 December 2013. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
- ^ "Cruzada contra el hambre atenderá a 7.4 millones de pobres". Milenio. 21 January 2013. Archived from the original on 20 July 2013. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
- ^ George H. Wittman (9 July 2010). "Mexico Unmasked". The American Spectator. Archived from the original on 12 July 2010. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
- ^ TheCatalist (17 March 2010). "Mexico 2050: The World´s Fifth Largest Economy". Archived from the original on 19 August 2010. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
- ^ IMF Survey (16 March 2010). "Mexico Recovering..." International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
- ^ "Impact of Globalization: the Case of Mexico" (PDF). HumanGlobalization.org. November 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
- ^ Tal Barak Harif & Jonathan J. Levin (4 October 2010). "Mexico Boom Leads Americas as Drug War Loses to NAFTA". Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Retrieved 16 November 2010.[dead link]
- ^ "Brazil now Latin America's largest economy". NBC News. Associated Press. 30 September 2005. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
- ^ Samuel Peña Guzman (4 September 2006). "Social Inequality in Mexico". Mexidata.info. Archived from the original on 25 November 2010. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
- ^ "Federal Government Poverty Fight Initiative". Notimex. 28 December 2009. Archived from the original on 12 April 2013. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
- ^ "Mexico achieves universal health coverage, enrolls 52.6 million people in less than a decade". Harvard School of Public Health. 15 August 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2013.