Objective:

To estimate food consumption patterns of households living in poverty in order to quantify the impact of inflation on their economic well-being from the period between 2008 and 2019 in Mexico.

Methodology:

Two Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand Systems (QUAIDS) were built to model the food consumption patterns of each study area. Inflationary changes in food prices for the period of interest were introduced into the model.

Results:

The loss of economic well-being of households in poverty was estimated at approximately 71% for both areas, between 2007 and 2019.

Limitations:

Three main limitations were accounted, for the first was that the urban surveys had incomplete information. The second was the lack of an indicator of wage increases that was segmented by rural and urban areas; the third was that the study was carried out using the ENCEL survey as an instrument, which ceased to have follow-up after the entry of the new federal administration in 2018.

Conclusions:

By studying and modeling household consumption patterns, it is possible to contribute valuable information on the designs of social policy to combat hunger in Mexico.