Vulnerability Factors in the Middle Class: Evidence for Argentina and Mexico Following the Crisis of the 1990s

GALASSI, GABRIELA - GONZÁLEZ, LEANDRO M.

Revista Frontera Norte

Escuela de la Frontera Norte

Lugar: Tijuana; Año: 2012 vol. 24 p. 89 - 116

0187-7372

This paper explores the profile of the Argentinean and Mexican middle classes during the most recent crisis in both countries. It combines the perspectives of social vulnerability and class analysis theoretically underlying a “matrix of vulnerability and social classes.” The analysis used household surveys in Argentina for 1998 and 2003 and those in Mexico for 1994 and 1996. The results show that whereas the Mexican middle class was primarily affected during the “Tequila crisis” through its physical assets (housing conditions), in Argentina, education and the labor market were the main mechanisms affected by the 2001 crisis.