The relationship between skin tone and inequality in Mexico is a significant issue. The National Institute of Statistics (INEGI) conducted a 2017 National Household Survey (ENH) that used a color palette to measure individuals’ skin tone. The results showed that Mexicans with darker skin tones tend to have lower levels of education and are worse off economically than their lighter-skinned counterparts.
These findings have sparked debate among journalists and academics, with some arguing that Mexico is a post-racial country and that discrimination based on skin tone is a thing of the past. However, other studies have found evidence of social inequality and discrimination on the basis of skin tone. For example, a study by Trejo and Altamirano (2016) found that darker-skinned individuals in Mexico face significant economic and educational disadvantages.
To address the limitations of INEGI’s findings, researchers Daniel Zizumbo-Colunga and Iván Flores Martínez used data from the 2016/17 AmericasBarometer to examine the relationship between skin tone and material wealth in Mexico and other countries in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region. They used an 11-point scale to measure skin tone, with higher numbers representing darker skin tones.
The results showed that the negative toll of skin tone on material wealth in Mexico is among the three most extensive in the region, trailing only Trinidad and Tobago and Ecuador. In fact, a maximal change in skin tone in Mexico is associated with a 51.5% decrease in material wealth, even when controlling for other variables. This finding is consistent with INEGI’s report, which found that Mexicans with darker skin tones tend to have lower levels of education and are worse off economically.
The researchers also found that the toll of skin tone on educational attainment in Mexico is among the greatest in the LAC region, behind only Bolivia, Uruguay, and Ecuador. In total, a maximal change in skin tone in Mexico can be associated with a decrease of 5.7 years of schooling, a 51.8% reduction in educational attainment, even after controlling for ethnicity, rural/urban area, subnational region, and gender.
Overall, the AmericasBarometer data paint a stark picture of the relationship between skin tone and inequality in Mexico. The negative relationship between skin tone and wealth and education outcomes is statistically significant, even when controlling for potential confounding factors. Moreover, the effect of skin tone in Mexico is stronger than the effect of any other socioeconomic variable.