Effects of Income on Family Care Organization in Mexico: An Analysis Based on Data from the Encuesta Nacional de Ingreso y Gasto de los Hogares (ENIGH) from 2010 to 2020

This article examines the impact of income level on family care organizations in Mexico to elucidate how families apportion care responsibilities according to their economic standing. The study design employed a quantitative approach, utilizing two distinct methodologies to construct two indices: one representing the time devoted to care and the other representing care transferred to the market. Factor analysis converts minutes and hours into a time index and transforms the number of domestic workers and health and hospital expenses into a market index. A regression model estimates the effect of income on these indices, aiming to analyze the relationship between income and spending on health and services and between income and time spent on home care. The results are based on data from the National Household Income and Expenditure Survey (ENIGH) 2010–2020, using a nationally representative sample of 81 thousand dwellings. The data analysis concluded that households with higher incomes spend a more significant proportion of their expenditure on domestic care-paid services and have greater access to professional care. In contrast, lower-income households face significant challenges due to their limited financial resources and the higher demands for unpaid care.