Poverty: the wrong path

When a goal is set, a methodology and a specific period of time are also determined to achieve it. If the goal isn't met, a review of the method has to be done in order to analyze and modify what didn't work out so it can be attempted again. If the latest attempt is also unsuccessful, usually another method is used, advice is sought, and a new course is set. This process is applied in several areas: sciences, business, academic, personal...but not in politics.

Mexico has spent three decades with state-funded welfare programs that intend to diminish poverty and inequality in the country. There was even political rotation and the problem persists. Although there is minimum progress, in some regions, and at certain moments, the problem seems to be escalating...yet the chosen path is insisted on.

EL UNIVERSAL informs today that the over 6,500 welfare programs have been of little help to reduce the number of vulnerable individuals in the country since the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (CONEVAL) – the institution in charge of assessing poverty – estimates there are 53 million poor people in Mexico.

Several organizations have pointed out that the number of programs has only scattered assistance, thus they urge for the creation of a single national registry f or low-income people.

There are several programs with the same purpose, such as the welfare programs for senior citizens, of which there are 33 across the Mexican Republic. Where is the coordination in fighting one of the most pressing matters of the country? There could be better results in the fight against poverty if there was enough coordination to avoid unnecessary duplicates of welfare programs.

Looking at the facts, these micro-contributions – usually worth only a hundred of Mexican pesos per month – do not decrease poverty, rather, they are used to attract clients for political parties, who use welfare programs to obtain the vote of those benefiting from them. Economic assistance is rather paltry when families try to use the amounts given to them to meet their basic needs.

After decades of providing economic contributions with so little progress, it should be more than clear welfare programs will not solve poverty – at least not in the short term.

Generating economic conditions which boost development in underdeveloped regions is one of the most effective ways to tackle poverty. States with economic growth are the ones who have had better results in decreasing poverty – this should have always been our path.

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