Social well-being under pressure: structural inequities in early childhood in Mexico City

Although progress has been made in measuring social wellbeing, limited evidence exists on its structure in households with young children living in contexts of structural inequality. This study asks: Which indicators most strongly shape social wellbeing in early childhood households?

Using representative data from the 2024 Multidimensional Social wellbeing Survey, we applied the DMM-RL distance methodology, a multidimensional index construction technique that integrates objective and subjective indicators to compare the social welfare of households with and without children in early childhood.

Households with young children consistently showed lower wellbeing across most indicators. They had fewer economic resources, with a considerable share living in income poverty and lacking access to social security due to caregivers' concentration in informal employment. These households reported almost no leisure time, higher rates of depression, and limited community participation. Although food security, internet access, and basic services contributed positively, these advantages were insufficient to offset deficits in emotional and relational dimensions. Overall, structural disadvantages outweighed the compensatory effects of material resources.

Findings underscore that the social determinants of health intersect to produce multidimensional vulnerabilities in early childhood households. These results imply that policies focused primarily on income poverty may overlook structural constraints related to time scarcity, caregiver mental health, and weakened community ties. We recommend strengthening care and mental health support services, expanding access to social protection for caregivers in informal employment, and incorporating multidimensional wellbeing indicators-including time-use and psychosocial measures-into the design and monitoring of urban early childhood policy. By documenting these inequalities in an urban Global South context, the study provides evidence to guide more integrated health and social policy interventions to improve child and family wellbeing.