Poverty and Social Policies in Mexico and the United States of North America: A Comparative Study

Concepts of poverty & the poor in the US & Mexico are analyzed & compared. According to US measurements of the poverty line, there is a high & persistent presence of poor people in the US, despite attempts to combat poverty. The poor are looked on as apart from the rest of society &a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Revista mexicana de sociología 1997-04, Vol.59 (2), p.161-184
Main Author: Schteingart, Martha
Format: Article
Language:Spanish
Subjects:
Antipoverty Programs
Comparative Analysis
Low Income Groups
Mexico
Poverty
Social Policy
United States of America
Welfare Policy
Welfare Services
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Summary:Concepts of poverty & the poor in the US & Mexico are analyzed & compared. According to US measurements of the poverty line, there is a high & persistent presence of poor people in the US, despite attempts to combat poverty. The poor are looked on as apart from the rest of society & as responsible for their situation. Mexico has recently seen an increase in the number of people classified as poor, but the tendency is to blame economic structural factors for poverty, not individuals. Social policies in the two countries & the development of welfare systems for the most needy are compared. Fieldwork was conducted in Washington, DC, with leaders of community organizations & government functionaries & in the metropolitan zone of Mexico City with popular groups & organizations. Many more programs, organizations, & individuals were mobilized in DC than in Mexico City, but there were many similarities in the two situations, eg, the strong connection between poverty & unemployment. 32 References. Adapted from the source document.
ISSN:0188-2503