The internet is a Mexican right since the country’s constitution was amended in 2013 to ensure universal online access. Forty-three percent of Mexicans lived in poverty in 2016, according to the latest data from the Mexican Institute of Statistics and Geography. That fell only 3 percentage points from 2010.
With its digital inclusion strategy, Mexico hopes to increase social mobility. This is because Internet access and poverty reduction are closely connected, as my study of 92 developing countries, including Mexico, confirms.
The internet is now virtually essential to economic mobility in a digital world.
Students study and learn online. Unemployed people need the Internet to find and apply for jobs. Factory workers use it to organize for better labor rights. Online trainings teach corporate employees new skills, helping them get promoted or change fields. Online resources can help farmers plan climate change.
Internet access also facilitates life-changing for other reasons. Social media connects people to others outside their immediate circle, for example, and provides information about their rights as citizens.
Source: mexiconewsdaily
