The population of urban poor in Mexico is growing, residing primarily in unplanned settlements (colonias) on the outskirts of major cities. These areas lack basic services like running water, electricity, and sanitation, and are often legally unrecognized by local governments. Despite the challenging conditions, residents choose these locations hoping for improved living conditions and the chance to own land. In 2020, a significant portion of the Mexican population lived below the poverty line, lacking access to social security and adequate nutrition. This study focuses on understanding how the actions taken by the urban poor to survive actually perpetuate their poverty, a concept known as the "poverty trap". The researchers utilize the concept of "relational poverty," which emphasizes the power dynamics between the poor and more privileged actors, contributing to the perpetuation of poverty. The study aims to understand how the urban poor's survival tactics contribute to their entrapment in poverty and inform future interventions.

Existing research documents the varied strategies employed by the urban poor to survive, but this study argues that these are "tactics" rather than well-planned "strategies" due to limited resources and information. The authors reference relevant works on relational poverty, highlighting the role of power dynamics in perpetuating poverty and rejecting the culture of poverty concept. Previous research on adaptive behavior, poverty traps, and multidimensional poverty frameworks are also discussed, setting the stage for the present study's focus on the hidden costs of survival strategies among the urban poor in Mexico.

The study employed a grounded theory approach, prioritizing the perspectives of the urban poor to understand their experiences with the poverty trap. Data were collected through observations and semi-structured interviews with 115 participants from 10 marginalized neighborhoods in three regions of Mexico. Participants included heads of households (mostly mothers and grandmothers), along with key informants from sectors such as education (teachers, school staff, students), health (doctors, nurses), employment, and law enforcement. The sampling strategy aimed to balance interview topics and participant types to achieve theoretical saturation. Interviews, lasting an average of 38 minutes, explored themes related to income, nutrition, education, health, safety, and environment. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis with QSR NVivo 11 software. Triangulation was employed to verify interpretations, comparing data from diverse participants and observations. The coding process balanced interview topics, participant types, and locations, stopping when theoretical saturation was reached. The researchers used thematic analysis to identify key themes and explore their interrelationships.

Participants lived in underserved and unregulated areas lacking basic services. The absence of formal authority responsible for land resulted in inadequate infrastructure, including poor roads, sanitation, and unreliable utilities (water and electricity). Access to these services often relied on informal and costly solutions. Families displayed resilience, hard work, and entrepreneurship but lacked the financial means for significant advancement. Efforts to access water and electricity often involved informal connections with associated costs and risks. The lack of paved roads created additional barriers, impacting transportation, access to services, and safety. While community support networks existed, these were strained by resource scarcity. Access to education and healthcare was limited by distance, quality, and cost, further depleting resources. The study found that while families experience occasional improvements, these are slow, unevenly distributed, and may only benefit future generations. The hidden costs of survival strategies in terms of time, money, and trade-offs in health and education were significant. Many survival strategies were illegal, further marginalizing participants.

The study's findings strongly support the concept of a "poverty trap," where survival strategies unintentionally perpetuate poverty. The actions of the urban poor, driven by necessity, result in a cycle of deprivation. The lack of access to high-quality, reliable services exacerbated by inadequate infrastructure and legal status of their settlements contributes significantly to this cycle. The researchers highlight that resilience and strength alone are insufficient to overcome systemic barriers. The study reveals the hidden costs often overlooked in research on the urban poor, encompassing financial, temporal, emotional, and health-related burdens. The "inverse care law" is evident: the most vulnerable receive the poorest quality services. The findings suggest that the hope for a better future in these informal settlements often functions as a trap that absorbs the efforts of the urban poor and prevents upward mobility. The study challenges the idea of individual agency alone as a solution, stressing that systemic issues require broader, more integrated interventions.

This study reveals the significant costs associated with survival strategies among the urban poor in Mexico, highlighting the existence of poverty traps. The researchers' emphasis on a relational approach emphasizes that simple individual actions are insufficient to overcome structural inequalities. The study underscores the need for integrated and participatory interventions that account for the knowledge and strengths of the urban poor to effectively address the complex issues. Future research should compare these findings to other Latin American cities, develop microeconomic models to better understand financial practices, and conduct longitudinal studies to observe family dynamics over time. Further research should also examine the perspectives of other involved social actors such as political leaders and informal service providers.

The study's limitations include the exclusion of two cities due to safety concerns, which may limit the generalizability of some findings. The study did not include families who successfully relocated, limiting its understanding of slum mobility. The cross-sectional nature of the data might have limited insights into longitudinal family dynamics. Finally, gaining access to some complementary social actors, such as local political leaders and informal service providers, proved challenging and should be explored further in future research.