Understanding Multidimensional Poverty
According to the INEGI, multidimensional poverty refers to a situation where an individual’s income is insufficient to acquire necessary goods and services, and lacks access to essential social rights such as education, healthcare, social security, housing, and food.
The Reality of Education and Healthcare Access
Despite formal compliance with poverty criteria, Mexico faces genuine challenges regarding people’s true needs and social rights access. Many students have completed mandatory education but suffer from severe educational deficiencies, placing them in a vulnerable position compared to those who genuinely access quality education.
Educational Performance in 2017
In 2017, low student performance in national and international evaluations was reported. In Language and Communication, 34% of students were at the lowest level, while 66% were at the same level in Mathematics. This indicated that these students had not consolidated essential learning, such as making inferences from implicit content in various texts or applying mathematical models.
INEGI’s Assessment
An INEGI study, following the National Plan for Evaluation of Learning, aimed to measure students’ achievement of key curriculum learning objectives across different mandatory education levels. Unfortunately, Mexico not only struggles with educational quality deficiencies but also faces educational attainment shortfalls, as students do not complete mandatory education by the expected age.
From 2016 to 2022, this deficiency increased from 18.5% to 19.4%, affecting an additional 2.8 million people. However, from 2022 to 2024, it decreased by approximately 0.8 percentage points and affected 0.9 million fewer people.
Healthcare Access Challenges
Besides educational deficiencies, a significant portion of the population lacks formal access to educational institutions. Regarding healthcare, INEGI’s multidimensional poverty measurement considers access to medical services from public or private institutions. However, mere access to a healthcare facility does not guarantee the right to health.
Healthcare Deficiencies
Publicly affiliated societies can observe severe shortcomings and deficiencies in healthcare service provision, including insufficient, slow, and incomplete emergency care, difficulty scheduling general medicine and specialty consultations in public health institutions.
Key Questions and Answers
- What is multidimensional poverty? It refers to a situation where an individual’s income is insufficient to acquire necessary goods and services, and lacks access to essential social rights such as education, healthcare, social security, housing, and food.
- What are the educational challenges in Mexico? Despite completing mandatory education, many students suffer from severe educational deficiencies, placing them in a vulnerable position compared to those who genuinely access quality education. In 2017, low student performance was reported in national and international evaluations.
- What does INEGI’s assessment reveal about education? The study aimed to measure students’ achievement of key curriculum learning objectives. Mexico struggles with educational quality deficiencies and educational attainment shortfalls, as students do not complete mandatory education by the expected age.
- What healthcare access challenges exist in Mexico? Besides educational deficiencies, a significant portion of the population lacks formal access to educational institutions. Regarding healthcare, INEGI’s multidimensional poverty measurement considers access to medical services from public or private institutions. However, mere access to a healthcare facility does not guarantee the right to health.
- What are the deficiencies in healthcare service provision? Publicly affiliated societies can observe severe shortcomings and deficiencies in healthcare service provision, including insufficient, slow, and incomplete emergency care, difficulty scheduling general medicine and specialty consultations in public health institutions.
