In Mexico, many believe they are middle class, but they are not. The 61 percent of the population identified as such but only 12 percent is. Know what is annual income means in 2021?.

Half the country lives with a serious misunderstanding about its income level, a confusion shared by rich and poor alike.

It is imperative that the average Mexican stop deluding himself about his standard of living.

The reality is that 84 percent of the population does not have job security or a salary that allows them to meet the needs of their family, but they deny it. Denying reality prevents having concrete and clear political demands.

Like a doctor who must first assess what illness his patient has, the average Mexican must be able to truthfully diagnose his shortcomings or privileges in order to know what to ask of the authorities.

It is time to start doing it to strengthen the middle class and demand the necessary policies to expand it.
However, in Mexico no one seems to be very honest with their own diagnosis.

The rich think they are middle class. Alice Krozer's studies have shown that even among the richest 1 percent in the country, two-thirds believe they are middle class.

The myth that we are all-middle-class is repeated at all income levels: Mexicans who earn 120,000 pesos a month, for example, believe that they have an “average” salary when in reality they earn more than 90 percent of the country.

The same happens among the poorest. Considering that 61 percent of Mexicans believe they are middle class, including two-thirds of the richest, there are at least 43 million Mexicans who live in moderate poverty but who believe they are middle class.

They are not, because to be middle class they would need to earn 64,000 pesos a month for a family of four, a salary level that only the richest 10 percent of Mexico earn.

It is not enough to stop being poor to be a middle class. In fact, there are almost 37 million people who are not technically poor but have basic needs such as access to health, social security or education.

This is because the Mexican government's poverty line is too low. CONEVAL calculates that with 3,200 pesos a month a person can satisfy all their needs, something far from reality in many areas of the country.

To be middle class, according to the Social Development Index of Evalúa of Mexico City, you need to have sufficient income to meet the needs of education, health, sanitation services, sewage, telephone, social security, electricity, fuel, basic durable goods and do not work more than 48 hours a week.

On average, the middle class in Mexico achieves this by earning an average of 16,000 pesos per person.

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