A column by Sonia Serrano Íñiguez of NTR Guadalajara, brings along a very interesting question about training and social mobility in Mexico.

The author wonders whether Mexico is a country where just working hard on something is enough to get ahead. She says there are certain success cases to give a positive answer to this question, but they do not suffice, and that reality is different: being born in poverty would doom most people to live in poverty when they are adults.

This is one of the most important conclusions of the report “Inequalities in Mexico 2018”, developed by the Colegio de México, and presented in the International Book Fair of Guadalajara (FIL). The origin and characteristics of people’s households “greatly determine the socioeconomic conditions they will have as adults”.

When analyzing the development conditions of people in Mexico, it is possible to observe inequalities that increase the gap; for example, inequalities in education, access to healthcare, territory and gender.

The survey started by analyzing “inequities in skills learning, to then explore patterns in labour markets’ access, focusing on income gaps and access to quality jobs”.

In a vulnerable context, “women, low income people, and indigenous population, still face greater difficulties than other groups to reach key goals in their lives”.

The report was developed by 11 professors and researchers from the Colegio de México. Laura Flamand, one of the authors of the study, explained that inequalities are the “unequal distribution of resources and opportunities”.

According to the National Constitution, every Mexican has the same rights, including access to quality healthcare and education, a proper job and a house. However, reality is quite different.

Similarly to other countries in the region, the current administration was questioned due to poverty measures. The National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), change the method to measure poverty, which caused that, for one year, the National Council of Evaluation of Social Development Policies, did not accept the data. During the past two evaluations, it did accept it. Certain academics think that this means erasing poor people for political purposes.

As Serrano Iñiguez says, properly measuring the exact dimension of poverty means having proper data for decision making processes and action plans to tackle inequities.

Laura Flamand considers that social programs are useful as they improve people daily conditions, but they do not solve the real problem, and inequalities keep on existing.

The report also shows that low social mobility and the stagnation of labour income among workers since 2007 mean that talent and efforts are not enough. This problem is even more serious among women.

The report has valuable data for politicians. If they become aware of the fact that “working hard” is not enough, put political debates aside, and agree on the fact that the campaign is over, they might find it useful to design urgent public policies.