According to the Social Development Index of Evalúa of Mexico City, it is necessary to have sufficient income to meet the needs of education, health and other

According to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography ( Inegi ) in its analysis “Quantifying the middle class in Mexico “, 42.4% of Mexican households, in which 39.2% of the population of Mexico live, belong to the class.

In absolute terms, 12.3 million households and 44 million people make up the middle class in the country, with three-quarters of both magnitudes located in urban areas.

If one of the households that were classified as middle class in the study were selected at random, it is most likely that that household has at least a computer, spends around 4,400 pesos per quarter to consume food and beverages outside the home, there are those who have a credit card as well as a member inserted in the formal labor market; It is headed by someone who has at least upper secondary education and whose marital status is married, making up a nuclear household of four people. 

Viri Ríos, an analyst of Mexican politics and a Ph.D. in Government from Harvard University, wrote a column in the New York Times about the middle class in Mexico, where he said that only 12% of the population belongs to this sector.

“In Mexico, many believe they are middle class but they are not. 61 percent of the population identifies as such but only 12 percent is. Half of the country lives with a serious misunderstanding about their income level, a confusion that rich and poor share alike, “he said.

According to Ríos, to be middle class, a family of four would need to earn 64,000 pesos a month, a salary level that only the richest 10 percent of Mexico earns.

To be middle class, according to the Social Development Index of Evalúa of Mexico City, you need to have sufficient income to meet the needs of:

-Education

– Health

– Health services

-Sewer system

– Telephone, electricity, fuel

– Social security

-Basic durable goods

-Do not work more than 48 hours a week

The analyst stated that on average, the middle class in Mexico achieves this, earning an average of 16 thousand pesos per person.

In the report “Under pressure: the reduction of the middle class “, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ( OECD ) said that on average 61% of the population in the international organization is in this income group, while in Mexico is 45%.

It points out that in most OECD countries, the middle class has shrunk because, for the younger generations, it is increasingly difficult to reach the middle class, defined as an income of between 75% and 200% of income medium national.

But how much must be earned in Mexico to be able to belong to the middle class?

In Mexico, the average monthly income of a two-person household is 7,128 pesos, so if you have an income between 5,346 and 14,256 pesos, you belong to the middle class (according to the institution’s methodology).

Having an income equal to or greater than 14,257 pesos would place you in the class with the highest income in the country, to which 19% of the population belongs.

The reality is that 84 percent of the population does not have job security or a salary that allows them to meet the needs of their family, but they deny it. Denying reality prevents having concrete and clear political demands.

He stressed that the rich think they are middle class. He cited studies by Alice Krozer that have shown that even among the richest 1 percent in the country, two-thirds believe they are middle class. The myth of all-we-are-middle-class is repeated at all income levels: Mexicans who earn 120,000 pesos a month, for example, believe that they have an “average” salary when in reality they earn more than 90 percent of the country.

The same happens among the poorest. Considering that 61 percent of Mexicans believe they are middle class, including two-thirds of the richest, there are at least 43 million Mexicans who live in moderate poverty but who believe they are middle class. 

What is the middle class across Mexico?

A middle-class person earns between $ 13 and $ 70 a day. That is, at today’s exchange rate ($ 19.81), between 258 and 1,387 pesos per day, or between 7,740 and 41,610 Mexican pesos per month.

“The middle class is households that have a low probability of falling into poverty, but they are not rich,” reports information from the WB’s Equity Laboratory for Latin America and the Caribbean.

They work mostly in the service sectors, followed by industry. They are generally salaried and independent workers. On average, in the countries of the Latin American region, the level of education is higher than complete secondary school.

AMLO Government attacks the middle class

After the midterm elections of June 6, the largest in the history of Mexico, in which more than 20,000 public offices were disputed, the National Regeneration Movement (Morena) party, founded by the president of Mexico Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), suffered a severe fall in the Mexican capital, several theories came to light as to why this had happened.

One of them was mentioned by the president himself last Friday during his morning press conference, who said that the sectors of the middle class that did not vote for Morena in the last elections, was due to an “aspirational attitude.”

“But a member of the middle-middle class, upper-middle-class, even, with a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, a doctorate, no, it is very difficult to convince, he is the reader of the Reforma, that is to tell him: Go your way, you are going to You are very good, because it is an aspirational attitude, it is to succeed at all costs, to get ahead, very selfish, ”AMLO mentioned during the morning press conference.

The president mentioned that the middle class was influenced by the “dirty war.” “They believed about populism, that we were going to be reelected, and you know what too, that you have to keep saying it?” They are classist and racist ”, mentioned the president.Play(Video: Government of Mexico)

But, what people belong to the middle classes in Mexico?

According to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) and with its analysis ‘Quantifying the middle class in Mexico’, 42.4% of Mexican households, in which 39.2% of the population of Mexico live, belong to the middle class. This, according to the results obtained at the end of the first decade of the XXI century.

This study took into account quantitative and qualitative aspects on the economic and sociological question of the population.

In urban areas, 50.1% of the households with 47% of the inhabitants in that area belong to the middle class. On the other hand, in rural areas, only 28% of households, with 26% of the population, belong to the middle class.

In absolute terms, 12.3 million households and 44 million people make up this social stratum in Mexico. Inegi points out that three-quarters of both magnitudes are in urban areas.

Another characteristic of the middle class, according to Inegi, is that whoever is in charge of the family would have, at least, upper secondary education. 

What elements determine who is middle class

The Inegi found, based on quantitative and qualitative elements such as variables around well-being, sociodemographic, income and expenses, among others, seven strata on living standards:

– Stratum 7: upper class

-Strata 6, 5, 4, 3: middle class

– Strata 2 and 1: lower class

If from the set of households that were classified as middle class in the study, one was selected at random, it is most likely that that household had the following characteristics:

– Have a computer

– Pay around 1,600 pesos to a credit card

– Spend 4,380 pesos quarterly on food outside the home

– The home is your own or is being paid for with family resources or social interest credit

– At least one member is salaried and works for a private company

– Children attend public school

– The head of the household would have at least upper middle school

– The head of the household is married

– Have four members

In the book Clasemediero, by journalists and writers Luis Rubio and Luis de la Calle, he points out as attributes of the middle class the search for means of improvement and social mobility; the possession of certain types of goods and interest in certain forms of culture and entertainment.

For her part, journalist Viri Ríos, in a text published for the New York Times titled No, you’re not middle class, mentions that 61% of the population in Mexico identifies as middle class, however, only 12% is. .

The journalist Viri Ríos assured that for a person to be considered middle class, they must earn, on average, 16,000 pesos per month. 

“The reality is that 84 percent of the population does not have job security or a salary that allows them to meet the needs of their family, but they deny it. Denying reality prevents having concrete and clear political demands, ” says Ríos in the text.

” CONEVAL calculates that with 3,200 pesos a month a person can satisfy all their needs, something far from reality in many areas of the country,” he says.

According to the Social Development Index of Evalúa of Mexico City, to belong to the middle class you need to have sufficient income to meet the needs of education, health, sanitation services, drainage, telephone, social security, electricity, fuel, durable goods basic and do not work more than 48 hours a week. To satisfy this, a minimum of 16,000 pesos per person is needed, says the journalist.

In conclusion, depending on the cost of living for a particular city or state to be considered middle class one must earn between 7,740 and 65,00 Mexican pesos per month.

Source: lasillarota.com, infobae.com, expansion.mx, forbes.com.mx

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