Poverty Up

According to the ECLAC, Mexico was the country whose poverty levels were worst affected by the economic crisis. According to the UN agency, between 2006 and 2008, which is to say, before crisis really heated up, more than 3 million Mexicans sank into poverty. Calderón's secretary of social development, Ernesto Cordero, says that 6 million Mexicans are now newly impoverished thanks to the crisis, bringing the total proportion of poor citizens to about 47 percent. I'm not sure what the ECLAC measurement is, but it should be noted that Cordero's is rather strict on who is poor; one needs to make 1,900 pesos or less in the city and 1,200 in a rural area to qualify. That's a tough ceiling; someone making 2,000 pesos (or about $150) a month and living in Mexico City or Monterrey is barely eking out a living, even if they aren't "poor".