Mexico | Educational inequalities in Mexico: Inequities and educational lag

Summary

Educational inequalities in Mexico are examined through an analysis of educational lag between 2004 and 2024 and the estimation of a probit model using data from the 2024 ENIGH survey to quantify their main determinants based on individual, household, and contextual characteristics.

Key points

• Key points:
• The findings show that young people in the lowest quartile of per capita income are up to 32 percentage points (pp) less likely to complete the first year of university, 19 pp less in upper secondary education, and 11 pp less in lower secondary education compared with those in the highest quartile.
• Strong educational inequalities are also observed among the population that speaks an Indigenous language compared with those who do not (up to -23 pp, -16 pp, and -8 pp, respectively), as well as among those living in rural rather than urban areas (up to -14 pp, -9 pp, and -3 pp, respectively).
• Living in the quartile of municipalities with the highest homicide rates per capita in the country represents a disadvantage of 5 pp in completing the first year of university, while residing in a municipality with at least one commercial bank branch increases the probability of completing the first year of upper secondary education by 4 pp.
• Finally, this analysis reveals a fundamental paradox: despite multidimensional poverty in Mexico reaching its lowest historical level in 2024, gaps in educational access widened. The study concludes that poverty alleviation alone does not lead to a reduction in educational lag unless accompanied by broader strategies of social inclusion focused on rural areas and Indigenous populations.

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