Fostering Inclusion in Mexico
Mexico has long suffered from high poverty and social exclusion. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has likely exacerbated these problems, an increase in social program spending helped lessen the negative impact on employment, retail sales, and poverty. Our recent staff paper argues that higher and more efficient spending on social programs, education, and health would reduce socioeconomic gaps, mitigate economic scarring from the pandemic, and foster an inclusive recovery.
Longstanding social vulnerabilities
According to the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (CONEVAL), about 42 percent of the Mexican population lived in poverty in 2018, with large variation across states.
The pandemic could worsen social vulnerabilities owing partly to Mexico’s limited social protection. Forty percent of households with children or adolescents did not have access to social protection prior to the pandemic, a share above the Latin American average. Another factor has been low spending on public health and education, which is below the OECD average.
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