Politics: The current administration’s overhaul of social policy has left many of the poorest households without coverage
Everything indicates that economic growth rather than different social policy programs has been the main factor explaining poverty reduction in Mexican society over the past seven decades. The 6% average GDP growth of the "Mexican Miracle’s" period of stabilizing development from the 50s to the 70s was the determining factor at that time. The economic crises of the late 70s and the 80s slowed the trend toward poverty reduction, and the crisis of 1994-1995 reversed the trend. Subsequent macroeconomic stability and the implementation of social programs consisting of cash transfers conditioned on attendance and permanence in education and health services for the poorest families managed to reduce poverty once again. The economic-financial crisis of 2008-2009 again led to increasing poverty.
Along with his signature promise to root out corruption, López Obrador has constantly campaigned on eliminating poverty. In office his approach has consisted of increasing social spending, but not improving the coverage or quality of educational and health institutions and programs that have demonstrated acceptable levels of effectiveness. Instead, he has focused on conditional cash transfer programs. While he announced myriad initiatives in this regard, many never materialized or achieved any significant scale, while spending has gone almost entirely toward two specific population groups: senior citizens and students in basic and secondary education.
In the process, the numbers and percentages of beneficiary households at the bottom of the income scale have fallen considerably from those covered by programs of previous administrations. This week we analyze the effectiveness and evolution of social policy in recent decades
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