Mexico cuts poverty at a stroke – by changing the way it measures earnings

[Judi Lynn]

Last edited Mon Jul 18, 2016, 06:27 PM - Edit history (2)

Source: Guardian

Mexico cuts poverty at a stroke – by changing the way it measures earnings

Change in methodology by national statistics institute provokes scepticism after it shows Mexico’s poor are richer by a third compared with last year

David Agren in Mexico City
@el_reportero
Monday 18 July 2016 17.54 EDT

Mexico’s impoverished masses were up to 33.6% richer in 2015 than the previous year, according to the state-run statistics service.

But the change owes less to a sudden increase in actual wealth and wellbeing for the country’s poor than to unannounced changes in the methodology for measuring household earnings.

The changes make comparing poverty rates from one year to the next impossible – something acknowledged by the National Geography and Statistics Institute (Inegi).

But the tweak will allow image-conscious politicians to claim success in their anti-poverty programs and economic stewardship, even though public discontent over stagnant wages and rising prices remains widespread.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/18/mexico-cuts-poverty-national-statistics-changes-earnings-measurements

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Mexico statistics body criticized for poverty survey changes
Jul 18, 5:48 PM EDT

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Anti-poverty groups in Mexico accused the national statistics agency on Monday of arbitrarily changing the way it measures income surveys so poverty appears to be less of a problem.

The statistics agency defended its changes, saying it "improved" the way it measures income because it suspected people were under-reporting what they earn. According to the government poverty agency CONEVAL, the changes increased estimates of household income 11.9 percent nationwide.

The change makes this year's figures impossible to compare to previous years, frustrating attempts to track or study Mexico's poverty.

The civic group Citizen Action Against Poverty called the new system manipulating statistics and said it won't change the underlying problem.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_MEXICO_POVERTY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-07-18-17-23-09