El ahorro para el retiro del trabajador independiente en México, a la luz de la inclusión financiera, 2018

Abstract

Mexican state government has made efforts to promote among self-employed workers which represent in 2018 approximately 25% of the population over 18 years of age , the retirement savings in order to anticipate old age expenses . It is assumed as hypothesis that Financial Inclusion measured by Access to financial channels; Use of financial products and services; Protection of financial service users and financial education variables, has been a tool that has failed to have an impact on the self-management of savings by those who work on their own. The population over 18 years of age who work independently, and those who do so formally, were chosen as the object of study, considering those who assumed to pay taxes, at the date of application of the third national survey of financial inclusion in 2018 (ENIF in Spanish). This research aims to describe the behavior of the self-employed in terms of financial inclusion variables and their savings rate, as well as to analyze the factors that affect the probability of the self-employed by 2018 to save money through both formal and informal channels. It is clear that, in the case of the freelance worker, the use of savings plans and private plans for retirement is almost inexistent, and null for informal channels; and less than 4.5% of those who make voluntary contributions to their retirement savings account (Afore), this represents a low percentage measured in terms of the gap between the potential number of freelance workers in the country who should save for aging and the percentage that actually participates. The variables for user protection and financial education are found to explain the probability of saving money in the population under study. Clearly, the strategy implemented by the State to encourage the rational process of easing the consumption of this sector of the population has been fruitless, supported by financial inclusion and tax incentives, measures that have been expressed in this paper as self-management mechanisms. Therefore, an intervention model adjusted to decision making, based on a nudge from the behavioral economics theory, is formulated as a recommendation to increase the retirement savings of the sector of the population studied.