Mexico's poverty rate decreases over past 10 years: OECD
22/10/2008 17:06
The poverty rate in Mexico has dropped from 21 percent to 18.5 percent
over the past 10 years, said a report published by the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD) yesterday.
Those who earn less than 50
percent of the country's average income are considered by the OECD as
poor.
Some 18.5 percent of Mexicans are poor at present, less than 21 percent
10 years before, the report said.
The poverty rates in Turkey are 17.5
percent and in the United States 17 percent. Denmark and Sweden are with less
inequality with only 5.5 percent of poor people.
Mexico and Belgium are the
only countries that since the 1980s reduced the percentage of people with
incomes lower than the 50 percent of the average.
The most benefited group
were the people over 75 years old in Mexico, whose poverty rate fell from 40
percent to almost 30 percent, but 22 percent of Mexican children were poor, the
report said.
According to the OECD, the inequality on incomes and the number
of poor people increased during the last 20 years in three quarters of the 30
member countries of the OECD.
In some countries like Canada, Finland,
Germany, Italy, Norway and the United States, the difference between rich and
poor people has increased.
Generally, the social mobility is stronger in
countries with low inequalities, and "a bigger equality of opportunities goes
together with a more fair situation," the report said.
The mission of the
OECD, founded in 1961, has been to help its member countries to achieve
sustainable economies.
Xinhua
|
