Mexico

Abstract

Poverty in Mexico, particularly extreme poverty, cannot be fully understood independently of indigenous identity. Being an indigenous person in Mexico has been and continues to be associated with significant economic and social disadvantages. This chapter explores the degree to which an individual’s indigenous background, among other characteristics, contributes to his or her probability of being poor and ill-educated, and whether the earnings differences between Mexico’s indigenous and non-indigenous populations are merely attributable to group differences in income-generating characteristics or may also reflect discrimination in the labour market. The chapter also analyzes the evolution and dynamics of indigenous poverty in Mexico between 1992 and 2002, plus the changing demographics, labour market participation and human development achievements of the indigenous and non-indigenous populations, in order to assess whether the economic and social gaps between them are narrowing or widening.

I would like to thank Vicente Garcia Moreno for invaluable research assistance.