Inequality, Poverty and Social Policy in Mexico: Analysis of Government Reforms 1980-1994
Overview
This paper analyzes Emma Aguila et al.'s study of poverty, inequality, and social policy in Mexico between 1980 and 1994. The essay examines government reforms across agriculture, education, and healthcare sectors, arguing that while Mexico has made improvements in addressing disparities, significant inequalities persist, particularly affecting rural and indigenous populations.
What this essay covers
- Historical context of social injustice and inequality in Mexico, including gender and race disparities and rural-urban divide
- Agricultural sector challenges and government failures in supporting indigenous farmers, alongside OECD reform recommendations
- Educational and health sector inequalities and the government's reform initiatives to promote equality and improve life expectancy
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Yihe Shen
Prof. Sal
History
Nov 5th, 2020
Article: Aguila, Emma et al. "Inequality, Poverty and Social Policy in Mexico."
Emma Aguila et al. explore Mexico's poverty, inequality, and social policy between 1980 and 1994. Their study focused on education, rural poverty, inequality, crop production, and life expectancy to record their results and conclusion. For a long time, social injustices prevailed in Mexico, while most people lived in deep poverty in rural areas. Aguila et al. argue that inequality of different types, including gender and race, has existed in Mexico since colonial times. People were divided into rural and urban dwellers. The rural dwellers never received much attention from the government, and infrastructure remained unattended compared to the metropolitan area population that received better treatment. Firstly, the government does not provide substantial help to the agricultural sector, making the indigenous people live in deep poverty. Notably, most people living in rural parts of Mexico are indigenous, and they live in abject poverty.
Mexico grows corn, rice, wheat, cereals like beans, and other agricultural products. However, crop production still faced several challenges in the 1950s. In order to solve these agricultural challenges, agricultural reforms are needed. The OECD suggests that these reforms include scrubbing market price support and energy regime reform to enhance the scrapping of energy subsidies.[1] The agricultural reforms need full attention from the government, as the rural dwellers never received much government attention. The reforms were not achieved until 2004. Secondly, social inequalities also appear in education.