People in Mexcio have a relative and a wide view of what should constitute a minimum standard of living, going beyond the basics of life.
In 2007, the government EDUMP survey asked about people's views on what is neceesary for life in Mexico today. The survey covered a wide range of items relating to social and public services and durables in the dwelling. Respondents were asked whether they thought the item 'very necessary', 'necessary', 'unnecessary', 'very unnecessary', 'neither necessary or unnecessary', or 'do not know'. The table below shows the percentages thinking an item is 'very necessary' or 'necessary'. Those who thought the item 'neither necessary or unnecessary', or 'do not know' represented about 2% of the ansers and were excluded from the analysis.
Items seen as 'very necessary' or 'necessary', Mexico, 2007
Mexico views on necsssities
Item | Percentage seeing item as 'very necessary' or 'necessary' |
---|---|
To have a fridge | 94% |
To have a pension for old age | 93% |
To have life insurance | 87% |
To have a tv | 87% |
To have telephone | 86% |
To be entitled for a housing credit granted by public institution | 85% |
To have retirement savings, system of retirement savings | 84% |
To have a boiler or water heater | 73% |
To be entiteld to a nursery or day care centre for child | 69% |
To go for walks at least once a month | 60% |
To have a computer | 61% |
To have fan | 55% |
To celebrate people's birthday | 47% |
To have a microwave | 47% |
To have a dvd player | 41% |
To have a heating system | 32% |
To have time for going out with friends | 30% |
To have climate air conditioning | 30% |
Source: Yedith Betzabé Guillén Fernández PhD thesis on 'Multidimensional poverty measurement form a relative deprivation approach - a comparison between the United Kingdom and Mexico', 2017, (Unversity of Bristol).
Comparing the views of men and women and of those household who felt they had enough and those who felt they did not have enough, Fernández found that there was a high degree of consensus as to what was necessary. Men and women and richer and poorer housholds agreed as to what were the necessities of life.
Read more in: 'Multidimensional poverty measurement from a relative deprivation approach - a comparison between the United Kingdom and Mexico', Yedith Betzabé Guillén Fernández PhD thesis, Unversity of Bristol, 2017.
Further resource
A presentation on poverty measurement in Mexico was made by Julio Boltvinik, Professor at El Colegio de México, at the Second Peter Townsend Memorial Conference, 'Measuring Poverty: The State of the Art', in 2011.
Attachment | Size |
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YB-Guillen-Fernandez_PhD-dissertation-(UoB).pdf | 4.31 MB |