Last week, the INEGI released the results of the National Survey of Household Income Expenditure 2020. The information provided by the ENIGH It allows us to understand the way in which Mexican households receive income and the way we spend, not only broadly, but at particularly detailed levels. Due to the magnitude of the survey, it is carried out every two years. On this occasion, its uprising was between August and November of last year, so the impact of the pandemic is contemplated in some way.
I will dedicate these lines to income and I will save expenses for next week. Mexican households reported a total income of 53 thousand 798 pesos per quarter, that is, 17 thousand 933 pesos per month during 2020. Most of the household incomeAround 58%, came from work in its different forms –remunerations for subordinate work, independent work, wages and salaries, commissions, tips, bonuses–. Although total income was 6% lower than that reported in the 2018 ENIGH, labor income fell more than 10%. It would be worth remembering that 2018 revenues also fell compared to those reported in the 2016 ENIGH, having diminished more than 4% between those years.
The results of this survey show that transfers occupied a larger fraction of income in 2020 than they did in 2018. Last year the percentage of income in the form of transfers reached 13%, having increased 8.3% compared to what was reported in the ENIGH 2018. The transfers item includes remittances, income from government programs and pensions, among others.
Specifically, in government transfer programs, households in the country received, on average, 389 pesos per month, equivalent to 2.3% of their current income. As expected, the lower income strata obtained higher income from this concept. In the lowest stratum, the benefit of programs of government transfers was 608 pesos per month, equivalent to 6.3% of current income. In the high income stratum, 208 pesos were received per month, about 0.6% of the recurring income of this group.
The differences between states were notable. During 2020, New Lion, Baja California and the Mexico City they had income above the national average, 24 thousand 310 pesos, 22 thousand 607 and 22 thousand 452 pesos respectively. On the other side of the spectrum, they found Chiapas, Guerrero Y Veracruz with income of less than 12 thousand pesos per month. The case of Nuevo León is noteworthy, where income did not decrease compared to those reported in the previous survey and the case of Chiapas where households earn 9,723 pesos per month is also notable.
Remittances represented 2.5% of the income received by households from strata with lower income.
For the upper and middle strata, they represented 0.5% and 0.3%, respectively.
In summary, the income of Mexican families decreased, but not only due to the pandemic, but rather following a pattern set by 2018’s own income. Much work remains to be done in Mexico if it is about growth and income.
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