Two Million More People Fell Into Poverty in First Two Years of Pena Nieto Administration Mathieu Tourliere - Proceso
go to original July 24, 2015

The latest United Nations report on child poverty finds a staggering 600 million children worldwide living on less than a dollar a day. Over 20 million of them live in Mexico, though Mexican officials say the true number there is much smaller. Fighting child poverty is a great challenge in Mexico. (CCTV America)

According to the results of studies regarding levels of poverty in Mexico for the period 2012 to 2014, released today by the Council for Evaluation of Social Development Policy (CONEVAL), the fall in household incomes and unsatisfactory social policies led 2 million people to fall into poverty. Last year the total number of poor people rose to 55.3 million. [MV Note: Mexico's total population is 119.715.000.]

According to the study, during the first two years of the Peña Nieto administration, poverty rose from 45.5% to 46.2% among the Mexican population, although the rate of extreme poverty fell:

• 2012: 9.8%, or 11.5 million people; to
• 2014: 9.5%, or 11.4 million people.

Based on the household survey conducted by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) last year and published last week, CONEVAL points out that 24.6 million Mexicans—one in five; 1.2 million more than in 2012 - were in an "ideal" situation; i.e., they did not suffer insufficient income or deficiencies in basic needs [food, housing, etc.].

But in 2014 the other 95 million (79.4% of the population) were vulnerable:

• 43.9 million suffering from poverty;
• 11.4 million of extreme poverty;
• 31.5 million suffered basic deprivation; and
• 8.5 million received incomes below the poverty line, which is an increase over the 7.2 million who were below the poverty line in 2012.

Gonzalo Hernández Licona, CONEVAL Executive Secretary, stated: "It is likely that the population that is vulnerable due to their scarce income, although they aren't [currently] suffering deficiencies, may fall into poverty in the coming years if their situation isn't changed."

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Mexico Voices is a blogging endeavor aimed at raising the awareness of U.S. citizens regarding the destructive impact of the U.S. economic policy and the War on Drugs on Mexico — on its people, their economic and physical security and their human rights, on the nation’s dysfunctional justice system, and on the rule of law and Mexico’s fragile democracy. Visit the website at MexicoVoices.blogspot.mx

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