Salaries of less than 8,600 pesos a month are insufficient to buy two basic gray hairs, “which places workers and their families in poverty,” said Citizen Action Against Poverty.
How much does the basic basket cost in Mexico 2022?
Despite the recovery that the general minimum wage (SMG) has had, the 5,186 pesos per month received by workers who earn an SMG (172.87 pesos per day), fall short with 3,232 pesos for the purchase of two food baskets.
According to calculations by Citizen Action against Poverty, for next year the difference between the minimum wage and the two food baskets will be 3,400 pesos.
Coneval in his report on working poverty points out that 40% of the population does not have enough income to exceed the poverty line; percentage higher than the 38.3% of the previous quarter.
Increase to the minimum wage
The National Minimum Wage Commission (Conasami) is already discussing the next wage increase.
So far the proposals are 15% from the employer sector, 20% from the government and 25% from the labor sector. However, none of these proposals is enough to reach 8,600 pesos per month -the cost of two basic baskets at the beginning of next year-, the organization warned.
Citizen action against poverty proposes, as a reference percentage, an increase of 10%, which makes it possible to recover inflation (8.4% at an annual rate) and the increase in the cost of the basic food basket (9.5%), plus the independent amount recovery (MIR).
“To reach the goal, 100 more pesos a day, 3,000 pesos a month, in pesos are required (not as a percentage that confuses and generates negative effects). This is the reference for the recovery of the general minimum wage”, said Rogelio Gómez Hermosillo, coordinator of Citizen Action against poverty.
Last week José Medina Mora, president of Coparmex, said that the goal is to bring minimum wage to the line of family welfare in the year 2026 with sufficient income to purchase the food and non-food basket.
