Mexico City: Flaws in Proposed Care System Law.

Photo by Julio Lopez on pexels.com 

Mexico City’s push to build a comprehensive care system is being promoted as a landmark step toward social inclusion. Beneath this ambition, the Proposed Care System Law contains structural weaknesses and restrictive budget provisions that may significantly constrain its effectiveness and undermine the rights it seeks to advance. 

The draft legislation builds on years of reform and advocacy, including a landmark December 2024 amendment to Mexico City’s Civil Code, which recognised full legal capacity for all adults and abolished forced guardianship in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ratified by Mexico in 2007.

This progress, however, contrasts with the scale of existing needs, underscoring the urgency of effective reform. According to the 2020 National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), approximately 20.8 million people, about 16 percent of Mexico’s population, live with disabilities. Despite this, public policies have largely relied on fragmented welfare programmes, leaving many without access to the tailored support and services necessary for independent living and full participation in society.

Mexico City’s Care Law initiative seeks to address these gaps by establishing a rights-based system grounded in autonomy, inclusion, and community participation. Conceived as a structural reform, it aims to replace a patchwork of social assistance programmes with an integrated framework capable of supporting individuals across their lifespan. Even so,the draft law contains significant shortcomings that may hinder its impact. Indeed, while it includes principles such as autonomy, inclusion, and deinstitutionalisation, it remains heavily reliant on care centres and service-based approaches, and lacks sufficient safeguards to guarantee informed choice and user control.

In particular, funding provisions pose a critical concern. Although the bill mandates a progressive budget that should not decrease in real terms, an interim clause barring increases in public spending could effectively prevent additional allocations, thereby undermining implementation and weakening its objectives. Adequate funding is essential to guarantee the right to live independently and to be included in the community, as set out in Article 19 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Without sustained investment, key services such as personal assistance and community-based support are unlikely to develop at the necessary scale.

Financial support mechanisms raise further issues. While the proposal provides cash transfers to caregivers, it does not clearly allocate direct resources to persons with disabilities to secure personal assistance. As a result, it risks reinforcing dependence on families rather than promoting autonomy. Research in Mexico has shown that the absence of independent living support can increase the risk of abuse and neglect, highlighting the need for a system that reduces, rather than perpetuates, dependency. 

Additional limitations include the absence of a clear deinstitutionalisation strategy and eligibility criteria that may exclude individuals who require support but do not meet thresholds of “intensive” need, thereby leaving gaps in access to essential services.

The proposed Care System Law therefore represents a pivotal opportunity to advance human rights in Mexico City. If strengthened, it could promote autonomy, prevent abuse, and ensure equal participation for persons with disabilities and older persons. Without meaningful structural and financial commitments, however, its transformative potential will remain unrealised. Lawmakers should remove restrictive budget provisions, ensure funding can expand in line with needs, and prioritise investment in community-based services and personal assistance. Meaningful consultation with organisations of persons with disabilities will also be essential to ensure alignment with international standards.

As Mexico City moves forward, placing human rights at the centre of care policy is imperative. Without adequate resources and robust safeguards, the reform risks becoming an empty promise rather than a decisive step toward dignity, equality, and inclusion.

written by Clara Pescatori