Mexico needs a national care system to serve 18.6 million people who need it, according to calculations made by the Center for Economic and Budgetary Research (CIEP) based on the National Household Income and Expenditure Survey (ENIGH) 2022.
In Mexico, 14.4% of the more than 128.8 million inhabitants would need care, which usually falls on women, according to “CIEP”.
The CIEP analysis highlighted that the largest population requiring care is early childhood, that is, newborns to six-year-old children. With the data for 2022, it was calculated that this population is 9.9 million.
In addition to children, people with disabilities are another vulnerable population in need of care. The ENIGH 2022 showed that these inhabitants totaled 5.0 million records last year.
Mexico does not have a national care system; however, the public budget for care programs in 2023 amounts to 39,429 million pesos. “This is 0.48% of total spending,” the CIEP said.
According to estimates made by the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP), a national care system could cost up to 1.4% of the annual gross domestic product (GDP), so the big question is how to finance it.
The National Care System is one of the great problems that the government has with women since they are the ones who are mainly responsible for the issue of care. They are left behind in the workplace, so their access to better income, professional development, and social welfare is reduced.
“In the last year, he has evaluated how the national care system can be financed. Since the gains from bringing women into the economy are for everyone, we all have to contribute to them. That’s why we see it very much like a pension system,” Gabriel Yorio, undersecretary of finance, said.
“It could be thought of as a fragmented system, such as pensions, and that it be tripartite, that is, that the government, employer, and employee contribute,” he added.
