In Mexico, social classes are defined by the income level of individuals or households. However, for measurement requirements, there are different concepts. Are you middle class or middle stratum? Discover the differences.
According to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), 39.2% of the country’s total population is middle class. While 1.7% is upper class, and 59.1% is lower class.
The middle class is urban, since 12.3 million households that make it up, or 76.8%, live in these areas.
The INEGI clarifies that there is no agreed definition of the middle class for statistical purposes, there is only a series of approximate practices based on income.
The average monthly income for the middle class is 22,297 pesos. In urban areas, the average monthly income is 23,451, while in rural towns it is 18,569 pesos.
On the other hand, with the 2019 Integrated Measurement Method of Poverty (MMIP), it is explained what the middle stratum is, which is something different from the middle class.
The non-poor population is classified into three strata, which are based on the degree of satisfaction of their needs.
The MMIP identifies the population as people with poverty and those without poverty. In turn, each one is divided into three strata.
In the case of the population with poverty, the strata are: very high poverty, high poverty and moderate poverty. For the poor population there are: minimum satisfaction, middle class and upper class.
For the middle class, in this stratum people have an average satisfaction of their needs, from 1.1 to 1.49 times the norms of the MMIP.
The MMIP indicates that only 12.3% of Mexicans are located in the middle class.
Middle-income people have incomes between 4,000 and 9,000 pesos per month, which represent 40% of the country’s population, according to the MMIP. For its part, the upper stratum only corresponds to 10% of the population, while the other half is located in the lower stratum.
Source: Dinero en Imagen
