The World Bank says that Mexico performed poorly in increasing the population that has moved from poverty to the middle class, largely because of the impact of the financial crisis of 2008 on it s economy.
"In the crisis, the only country in Latin America whose GDP shrank by 7 percentage was Mexico. The country shows the worst performance in access of the population to becoming middle class," said Luis F. Lopez-Calva, lead economist for Economic Management and Poverty Reduction in Latin America and the Caribbean of the World Bank.In the presentation of the study "Economic Mobility and Growth of the Middle Class in Latin America" carried out by the agency, the specialist said that Mexico is one of the few countries in Latin America where poverty is increasing, although for more than ten years Mexico had made great strides in social mobility and access to the middle class.
In this regard, the World Bank report noted that Latin America is in a process of growing its middle class; however, a large percentage of the population is vulnerable to returning to poverty.
According to the document, a family of four would be classified as belonging to the middle class if their annual income range between $14,600 and $ 73,000. However, the agency notes that the challenge is for this population to remain in the middle class and no longer be vulnerable.
At the same event, Gonzalo Hernández Licona, Executive Secretary Coneval, [National Council for Evaluation of Social Development Policy] said that in Mexico's case, that while their income has improved in recent years, 32.3 million people, 28.7% of its population, is vulnerable to return to poverty.
Meanwhile, Enrique Cardenas, director of the Espinosa Yglesias Center for Studies, said that in Mexico, the reality is that 70 of the population born into poverty have little chance to get out of this condition, which means that "poverty in Mexico is inherited." Spanish original