Substantial Difference between Private and Public Pensions in Mexico 2018-2021

Abstract

The objective of this article is to analyse the pensions of private sector workers, comparing them with those of the public sector. The work is framed under the deductive method, with a hermeneutic paradigm and with a quantitative approach. In 2018, the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) had 1.5 million pensioners receiving less than 5,000 pesos a month, which represented 69.8% of all its beneficiaries with that benefit and 46.7% of the national total; while the State Workers’ Social Security Institute (which groups government workers) had 1.7% of its retirees in that income segment; the IMSS as employer 0.4%; the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) and Petróleos Mexicanos 0%. The great inequality between the public sector and the private sector in pensions can be seen when the IMSS had 2,270 beneficiaries receiving incomes of 60 to 80 thousand pesos per month, while the CFE had 16,707 retirees receiving 60 to 200 thousand pesos per month (7.3 times more, when the IMSS is 51 times larger). In Mexico, the retirement system of decentralized public agencies needs to be restructured to unify the wide variety of subsystems currently operating.