Publication:
Poverty in Mexico : An Assessment of Conditions, Trends, and Government Strategy

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Files in English
English PDF (2.52 MB)
359 downloads
English Text (998.63 KB)
609 downloads
Date
2004-06-01
ISSN
Published
2004-06-01
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
This report presents the results of an assessment of poverty conditions in Mexico, and of the Government strategies to reduce poverty. It constitutes the first phase of a longer-term work program on poverty reduction in Mexico that the Bank is undertaking in collaboration with the Government during the period 2003-2006. The current situation in the country is mixed, with respect to poverty. In terms of well-being, Mexico has experienced major progress in some dimensions - notably related to basic service access - but much weaker progress on others - notably on the income of the poor. Despite the gains between 1996 and 2002, and in particular, for the extreme poor, poverty remains widespread, and is only slightly below the levels prevailing before the 1994-1995 crisis. The report relates to government strategy, and its strengths. The CONTIGO framework is excellent as a conceptual framework, especially in its attempt to integrate the multiple dimensions of well-being, and public action into a life-cycle approach. There are notable successes in specific programs -with "Oportunidades" (i.e., "Opportunities ") unusual in its combination of highly effective targeting, and broad reach amongst the extreme poor. The emphasis on evaluation is commendable, while the recent introduction of the Ley de Desarrollo Social (Social Development Law) is a potentially valuable attempt to institutionalize the social development strategy, and in particular, provide more continuity across government administrations. But challenges still remain. The quality of services is a major issue in many sectors, for although social policies for the extreme poor are well developed, policies for their income growth are not. There is a broader pending agenda for the moderate poor, especially with respect to improving the productivity of the self-employed and informal enterprises. Most of the extreme and moderate poor fall outside the formal social protection system, and face significant risks, i.e., health, unemployment or lack of income in old age. And there are a wide range of institutional issues to be tackled - from strengthening accountability, especially under decentralized structures, to social incorporation of excluded groups - as well as linking of rigorous evaluation to results-based management.
Link to Data Set
Citation
World Bank. 2004. Poverty in Mexico : An Assessment of Conditions, Trends, and Government Strategy. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13829 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.
Associated URLs
Associated content
Report Series
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

  • Publication
    Poverty in Mexico : An Assessment of Conditions, Trends, and Government Strategy
    (Washington, DC, 2004-06) World Bank
    This report presents the results of an assessment of poverty conditions in Mexico, and the Government strategies to reduce poverty. It constitutes the first phase of a longer-term work program on poverty reduction in Mexico, that the Bank is undertaking, in collaboration with the Government during the period 2003-2006. The current situation in the country is mixed, with respect to poverty. In terms of well-being, Mexico has experienced major progress in some dimensions - notably related to basic service access - but much weaker progress on others - notably on the income of the poor. Despite the gains between 1996 and 2002,and in particular, for the extreme poor, poverty remains widespread, and is only slightly below the levels prevailing before the 1994195 crisis. The report relates to government strategy, and its strengths. The CONTIGO framework is excellent as a conceptual framework, especially in its attempt to integrate the multiple dimensions of well-being, and public action into a life-cycle approach. There are notable successes in specific programs -with "Oportunidades" (i.e., "Opportunities") unusual in its combination of highly effective targeting, and broad reach amongst the extreme poor. The emphasis on evaluation is commendable, while the recent introduction of the Ley de Desarrollo Social (Social Development Law) is a potentially valuable attempt to institutionalize the social development strategy, and in particular, provide more continuity across government administrations. But challenges still remain. The quality of services is a major issue in many sectors, for although social policies for the extreme poor are well developed, policies for their income growth are not. There is a broader pending agenda for the moderate poor, especially with respect to improving the productivity of the self-employed, and informal enterprises. Most of the extreme and moderate poor fall outside the formal social protection system, and face significant risks, i.e., health, unemployment or lack of income in old age. And there are a wide range of institutional issues to be tackled - from strengthening accountability, especially under decentralized structures, to social incorporation of excluded groups - as well as linking of rigorous evaluation to results-based management. Section A of the report discusses poverty conditions, Section B reviews government strategy, and, Section C provides brief concluding comments on public action, and future analysis.
  • Publication
    Poverty in Mexico : An Assessment of Conditions, Trends and Government Strategy
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2005-01) Walton, Michael; Lopez-Acevedo, Gladys
    In 2002, half of Mexico's population lived in poverty and one fifth in extreme poverty, slightly lower than before the 1994-1995 crisis. Mexico has made major progress in some poverty dimensions -health, nutrition and education outcomes, access to basic health and education services, electricity, water and (to a lesser extent) sanitation. Large increases in government spending enabled key social programs to expand. Programs also became more pro-poor, with new demand-side measures using cash transfers as incentives for poor households to send their children to school and attend health clinics.
  • Publication
    A Preliminary Desk Review of Urban Poverty in the East Asia Region : With Particular Focus on Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, Volume 1. Main Report
    (Washington, DC, 2002-09) World Bank
    This study reviews the available quantitative and qualitative information on urban poverty issues and trends in the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) Region, with particular focus on Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. The review is a desk study-which is limited to material accessible to the Bank in Washington and draws mainly on existing field work and other published and unpublished papers. The empirical analysis focuses on the household poverty surveys and World Bank-sponsored poverty assessments, which are the main data sources used by the World Bank and by the national governments in designing poverty-related activities. The three countries were chosen because each of them has had a recent Bank-assisted poverty assessment exercise, and an active dialogue with the Bank on urban strategy and operations. The report identifies certain shortcomings and gaps in the conventional poverty measurement approaches, and recommends refinements and priorities for further work. The Annex Tables contain detailed data from the national household surveys for Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam as described in the main text.
  • Publication
    Brazil - Strategies for Poverty Reduction in Ceara : The Challenge of Inclusive Modernization, Volume 1. Main Report
    (Washington, DC, 2003-04-10) World Bank
    Why is there still severe deprivation in Ceara after so many years of active development eforts? Have government programs been well-designed? What can be done differently in the future? How can a more inclusive strategy be combined with the modernization effort? This report argues that a well-designed redistributive strategy is not only consistent with modernization, but is an important complement. Societies that effectively manage inequality and insecurity typically have deep and broad educational systems, and responsive and inclusive political and institutional structures. These can be sources of competitiveness and resilience in the global economy. But there is no magic solution. Success will depend on a range of complementary actions to tackle the various areas of disadvantage to create a virtuous cycle of change that is both redistributuve and growth-oriented. In particular, the report finds that growth alone will be a weak instrument of poverty decline, precisely because of the extent of inequality. Thus the report proposes complementary efforts in four areas: achieving a more equitable pattern of income and job growth; continuing and deepening the effort to get equitable skills development; use of redistributuve transfers for the poor and indigent, as a means of complementing human capital development; and strengthening institutional change, especially at the municipal level.
  • Publication
    The Living Conditions of Children
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2007-06) Patrinos, Harry Anthony
    This paper summarizes the socioeconomic conditions of children around the world. It explores solutions to the main problems, along with a summary of the costs and benefits of some of the solutions. Emphasis is on the results from rigorous studies, impact evaluations, and randomized experiments. Although the cost-evidence literature is scarce, a good case for early interventions and key quality-enhancing education interventions exists.

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

  • Publication
    Media and Messages for Nutrition and Health
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-06) Calleja, Ramon V., Jr.; Mbuya, Nkosinathi V.N.; Morimoto, Tomo; Thitsy, Sophavanh
    The Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) has experienced rapid and significant economic growth over the past decade. However, poor nutritional outcomes remain a concern. Rates of childhood undernutrition are particularly high in remote, rural, and upland areas. Media have the potential to play an important role in shaping health and nutrition–related behaviors and practices as well as in promoting sociocultural and economic development that might contribute to improved nutritional outcomes. This report presents the results of a media audit (MA) that was conducted to inform the development and production of mass media advocacy and communication strategies and materials with a focus on maternal and child health and nutrition that would reach the most people from the poorest communities in northern Lao PDR. Making more people aware of useful information, essential services and products and influencing them to use these effectively is the ultimate goal of mass media campaigns, and the MA measures the potential effectiveness of media efforts to reach this goal. The effectiveness of communication channels to deliver health and nutrition messages to target beneficiaries to ensure maximum reach and uptake can be viewed in terms of preferences, satisfaction, and trust. Overall, the four most accessed media channels for receiving information among communities in the study areas were village announcements, mobile phones, television, and out-of-home (OOH) media. Of the accessed media channels, the top three most preferred channels were village announcements (40 percent), television (26 percent), and mobile phones (19 percent). In terms of trust, village announcements were the most trusted source of information (64 percent), followed by mobile phones (14 percent) and television (11 percent). Hence of all the media channels, village announcements are the most preferred, have the most satisfied users, and are the most trusted source of information in study communities from four provinces in Lao PDR with some of the highest burden of childhood undernutrition.
  • Publication
    Competition and Productivity Growth in Latin America and the Caribbean
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21) Vostroknutova, Ekaterina; Sampi, James; Jooste, Charl; Araujo, Jorge Thompson
    Competition is a core element of economic growth, but empirical evidence on how competition affects productivity is often limited. Competition and Productivity Growth in Latin America and the Caribbean presents new empirical research that shows how competition policy in the region has effectively boosted productivity growth and improved market outcomes. “A must-read if you are interested in understanding the relationship between competition law, competition enforcement, growth, and productivity in Latin America. A report rich with data, analysis, and recommendations that will guide policy makers in the region.” —Antonio Capobianco Deputy Head of Competition Division, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) “This is a very important work both for economists and competition law scholars, the latter of whom have long taken for granted that antitrust enforcement and increased competition contribute to economic growth. While journal articles have explored this relationship, this is one of the first books to examine the issue deeply and systematically. I only wish that this volume had been published earlier, as it would have certainly benefited my own work on the subject tremendously.” —Thomas Cheng Professor and Associate Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong, and author of Competition Law in Developing Countries “It is critical to understand how competition and competition policy affect productivity growth, the key to economic development. This book makes big strides forward in understanding these connections. It takes advantage of novel antitrust enforcement and other legal data to build evidence-based insights into how competition policies can best encourage productivity growth. There is much to be learned inside.” —Chad Syverson George C. Tiao Distinguished Service Professor of Economics, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business
  • Publication
    South Asia Development Update, April 2024: Jobs for Resilience
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-04-02) World Bank
    South Asia is expected to continue to be the fastest-growing emerging market and developing economy (EMDE) region over the next two years. This is largely thanks to robust growth in India, but growth is also expected to pick up in most other South Asian economies. However, growth in the near-term is more reliant on the public sector than elsewhere, whereas private investment, in particular, continues to be weak. Efforts to rein in elevated debt, borrowing costs, and fiscal deficits may eventually weigh on growth and limit governments' ability to respond to increasingly frequent climate shocks. Yet, the provision of public goods is among the most effective strategies for climate adaptation. This is especially the case for households and farms, which tend to rely on shifting their efforts to non-agricultural jobs. These strategies are less effective forms of climate adaptation, in part because opportunities to move out of agriculture are limited by the region’s below-average employment ratios in the non-agricultural sector and for women. Because employment growth is falling short of working-age population growth, the region fails to fully capitalize on its demographic dividend. Vibrant, competitive firms are key to unlocking the demographic dividend, robust private investment, and workers’ ability to move out of agriculture. A range of policies could spur firm growth, including improved business climates and institutions, the removal of financial sector restrictions, and greater openness to trade and capital flows.
  • Publication
    Remarks at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-10-12) Malpass, David
    World Bank Group President David Malpass discussed biodiversity and climate change being closely interlinked, with terrestrial and marine ecosystems serving as critically important carbon sinks. At the same time climate change acts as a direct driver of biodiversity and ecosystem services loss. The World Bank has financed biodiversity conservation around the world, including over 116 million hectares of Marine and Coastal Protected Areas, 10 million hectares of Terrestrial Protected Areas, and over 300 protected habitats, biological buffer zones and reserves. The COVID pandemic, biodiversity loss, climate change are all reminders of how connected we are. The recovery from this pandemic is an opportunity to put in place more effective policies, institutions, and resources to address biodiversity loss.
  • Publication
    Economic Recovery
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-04-06) Malpass, David; Georgieva, Kristalina; Yellen, Janet
    World Bank Group President David Malpass spoke about the world facing major challenges, including COVID, climate change, rising poverty and inequality and growing fragility and violence in many countries. He highlighted vaccines, working closely with Gavi, WHO, and UNICEF, the World Bank has conducted over one hundred capacity assessments, many even more before vaccines were available. The World Bank Group worked to achieve a debt service suspension initiative and increased transparency in debt contracts at developing countries. The World Bank Group is finalizing a new climate change action plan, which includes a big step up in financing, building on their record climate financing over the past two years. He noted big challenges to bring all together to achieve GRID: green, resilient, and inclusive development. Janet Yellen, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, mentioned focusing on vulnerable people during the pandemic. Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, focused on giving everyone a fair shot during a sustainable recovery. All three commented on the importance of tackling climate change.