Wide Regional Differences in Social Mobility across Mexico

Social mobility is low in Mexico: inequality of wealth is highly persistent across generations; and about half of people from very poor households remain poor throughout their lifetimes. Moreover, according to a new study, an individual’s chances of moving up the social ladder are strongly determined by where in the country they are born: the degree of social mobility is higher in the richer northern states than in the poorer south, a level of variation that is far stronger than elsewhere in North America. The findings suggest that the uneven regional pattern mainly arises from inequality of opportunities for young people to develop skills or access decent work.