Half of children in Mexico live in poverty

Half of children and teenagers in Mexico live in poverty, according to a study conducted by UNICEF and the National Council for the Evaluation of the Social Development Policy (CONEVAL).

A 2014 report revealed that 21.4 million children aged zero to 17 years live in poverty, of a total of 40 million. Of these, 4.6 million live in extreme poverty.

This means one of every two children and teenagers aged zero to 17 years is poor and one out of nine lives in extreme poverty.

Gonzalo Hernández Licona, CONEVAL Executive Secretary, said that this trend has continued since 2008, with slight variations in the reduction of extreme poverty, from 14% to 11.5% between 2010 and 2014.

"If we do not invest now (in childhood) we will pay it later, because there will be no money enough to curb crime or eradicate the presence of illnesses," Hernández said.

Isabel Crowley, UNICEF representative in Mexico, said that poverty in childhood is worrisome because it can become permanent and be repeated in the next generation.

She added that poverty remains higher among children under five.