Other Poverty Study

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  • Publication
    Mexico - Income Generation and Social Protection for the Poor : Volume 3. An Overview of Social Protection
    (Washington, DC, 2005-08) World Bank
    This report provides a strategic overview of Mexico's federal social protection system, comprised of both social insurance and social assistance programs. It assesses its performance to date regarding income risk management for vulnerable groups, and identifies options for stepping up that performance. In doing so it responds to an increasing consensus in Mexico regarding the need for a major social protection policy reform, even if the direction of those reforms is still in flux. The report is designed to provide a first stage diagnostic of major issues facing the social protection system, as an input to ongoing discussion and debate in Mexico, and as a platform for further technical work on the specifics of reform. The report focuses on the role of federal government in the design and implementation of social protection policies, while recognizing that sub-national governments are playing an important role in the provision of these services. In doing so, it draws upon the first phase of the Mexico Programmatic Poverty Work, as well as the urban, rural and vulnerability studies conducted in parallel with this analysis. The report is organized into four chapters. Chapter 1 presents a brief review of social protection concepts, and establishes a framework for determining the optimal role for government in the provision of social protection (risk management) tools, as distinct from market-provided risk management tools, and those undertaken informally by and between households. Chapter 2 discusses the major sources of income vulnerability in Mexico, identifying the major risks that Mexican families faces, and explores the extent to which households have access to private risk management mechanisms for addressing these risks. Chapter 3 provides an overview and assessment of the social protection system in Mexico, and finally Chapter 4 discusses issues and options.
  • Publication
    Mexico - Income Generation and Social Protection for the Poor : Volume 1. Integrated Executive Summary
    (Washington, DC, 2005-08) World Bank
    This document summarizes the findings of three reports: Urban Poverty in Mexico, Mexico: a Study of Rural Poverty, and Mexico: an Overview of Social Protection, and, focuses on 1) the generation of income opportunities for the urban and rural poor, and, 2) social protection for the poor. The main messages can be summarized as follows. The poor are a heterogeneous group; importantly, long-term income-generating opportunities and coping strategies differ significantly between urban and rural areas, among different regions, between small and larger cities, and even within neighborhoods. This translates into having urban poor limited to low-quality jobs, marked by low productivity and with limited social protection. Additionally, to continue supporting the rural poor move out of poverty, it is important to increase agricultural productivity, especially for small- and medium-sized farmers, and facilitate their diversification into rural non-farm activities (RNF) of higher agricultural value-added. The rural poor depend mainly on self-subsistence agriculture, self-employment, and non-agricultural activities, and have typically not completed primary education. Conversely, the urban poor depend on access to salaried employment, on non-agricultural activities, mainly as employees in manufacturing or services, and have not completed lower secondary education. Since its inception in the 1940s, Mexico's social protection system has not been well-suited to respond to the risks the poor face. A key conclusion of this report is that geographical location must be taken into account, in order to design adequate poverty interventions - income generation opportunities and social protection needs vary depending upon the poor's location.
  • Publication
    Mexico - Income Generation and Social Protection for the Poor : Volume 4. A Study of Rural Poverty in Mexico
    (Washington, DC, 2005-08) World Bank
    This study is part of the second phase of a long-term programmatic work on poverty in Mexico, in three phases being carried out by the Bank at the request of the Government of Mexico. Reasons for a study on rural poverty, are because the size and intensity of the phenomenon, poverty, and inequality in rural Mexico are a matter of concern not only from the well-being of the poors' point of view, but also from that of the expansion of the internal market, inclusion of large sectors of the population traditionally excluded from the economic and social mainstream, and, the political integration and stability of the country. Poverty incidence in rural areas, in particular extreme poverty, is much higher than in urban ones. Although most of the country's moderate poor live in urban areas, most of the extreme poor are rural, even if the rural population is only one quarter of total. There are differences in sources of income between rural and urban poor. Also, rural environment poses specific constraints for provision of social infrastructure and services. Furthermore, institutions and culture tend to differ between rural and urban areas. The presence of indigenous groups is much larger in rural areas, whereas the production systems, the economic and other risks faced by rural poor and their coping strategies, usually largely differ from those of their urban peers. Mexico needs to move away from a fragmented social protection system, to a unified framework which nonetheless tailors different programs to different contexts in rural and urban areas. The study treats poverty as a multidimensional phenomenon intrinsically relative, with deep cultural aspects, and discusses the merits and limitations of quantifying poverty, in terms of measurable incomes and income lines. This report is organized as follows. Chapter 2 provides an overview of the evolution of poverty and inequality in the rural areas of Mexico in the decades between 1992 and 2002, while Chapter 3 looks more closely on what happened to rural incomes, employment, labor markets and the characteristics of rural labor force in the same period. Chapter 4 is devoted to examine the relation between poverty and the agricultural economy; Chapter 5 reviews the main agriculture, land and rural development policies and programs operating in Mexico, and examines them from the perspective of poverty friendliness; and, Chapter 6 starts with a theoretical discussion of the issues and challenges usually faced in the implementation of development policies and programs. Finally, Chapter 7 brings a more multidimensional and qualitative view, looking at how different types of rural poor can experience their poverty situation, including strategies to survive, manage risk and achieve petty accumulation, and, Chapter 8 concludes with a summary of policy options to reduce rural poverty in Mexico.