Impact of Remittances on Poverty Levels in Mexico

In this research, the authors analyze the behavior of the economy in Mexico during the years in which neoliberal ideas have dominated government policies and their relationship with poverty and migration. The study of the evolution of the growth of the real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) shows that from 1980 there is a significant fall in its annual performance, but even more if we observe how the real GDP per capita evolves, the one that would translate into better living conditions and does not get to improve the standard of living of the great majorities. The lack of growth in real income per inhabitant has not only translated into poverty but has been accompanied by a high concentration of income in a small percentage of the richest people in the country, and it has become a real poverty trap for Mexico. Our working hypothesis is that the variations in the levels of poverty have been due in a greater extent to the increasing income of remittances than to the assistance programs established by the government of our country.