Although the Tabasco population living in poverty has decreased, this reduction is seen in those living in moderate poverty, but not in those living in extreme poverty, which not only remains intact, but has even grown, going from 268,200 people in this situation during 2016, to 272,500 in 2022, despite the programs directed by the federal and state governments, allocating 143,106 million pesos in the first years of the six-year term for social development.
According to data released by the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (Coneval), extreme poverty in Tabasco has remained practically intact in the last eight years. In 2016, 268,200 people in the state lived in extreme poverty, a number that by 2018, the last of the PRI administration headed by Enrique Peña Nieto, reached 285,500 Tabasco residents living in this situation.
By 2020, despite the social programs operated by the Federation, but with the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the number of people in the state who had problems acquiring their food reached 330,800, and at the end of 2022 the population of the state living in extreme poverty reached 271,500, a number very close to the 268,000 who were in the same conditions six years earlier.
Since the arrival of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, social programs have been operated by the Federation, and the Tabasco native who lives in the National Palace boasts that in Mexico, seven out of 10 households receive some social program operated by his government, ranging from scholarships, support for young people building the future for those who do not study or work, Sembrando Vida, to universal pensions for people aged 65 or older.
In Tabasco, between 2019 and 2022, the state government allocated 143,106 million pesos of the total budget for Social Development, which the Ministry of Finance defines as the resources directly assigned to address the development and well-being of the population, such as environmental protection, education, culture, sports, health, hoping to contribute to raising the standard of living and well-being, especially in a government that is supposed to prioritize the attention of the poor in public administration. However, the number of people who left extreme poverty behind in those first four years is practically zero.
What is extreme poverty?
Economic support for those who have the least, lawyers say
According to Coneval, a person is in a situation of extreme poverty when he or she has three or more deficiencies out of six possible, within the Social Deprivation Index and is also below the minimum welfare line. People in this situation have such a low income that, even if they dedicated it entirely to the acquisition of food, they would not be able to acquire the nutrients necessary to have a healthy life.
It will be a few months before we know the final effectiveness of the application of resources for social programs to end poverty in the first Morena administration. Meanwhile, in Tabasco only moderate poverty shows a reduction between 2016 and 2022, since extreme poverty, the most difficult, remains the same, despite strong investments.
Source: elheraldodetabasco
