Anatomy: Social Mobility

World Policy Journal compared Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations across Latin America and found that Indigenous peoples receive less education, are placed in jobs that require less expertise, and, in turn, face higher levels of poverty.

Source: Hall and Patrinos (2006)

Source: National census data and World Bank Group

Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Peru are home to the largest Indigenous populations in Latin America. While Indigenous peoples represent just 7 percent of Ecuador’s population, they constitute around 20 percent of the total population in Mexico, and over 40 percent in Bolivia, Guatemala, and Peru.

Source: SEDLAC data (CEDLAS and World Bank Group)

Source: Latinobarómetro (2011) and World Bank Group

Compiled by Lucas Dean

Designed by Meehyun Nam Thompson

Survey respondents were asked, on a scale where one is poor and 10 is rich, where they think their parents were, they are, and their children will be.