Vallarta Daily: The National Survey of Occupation and Employment (ENOE) indicated in late August that 85% of youth between the ages of 20 and 29 earn the lowest wages in the country, at 6,000 pesos (US$450) or less a month.
The youth unemployment rate nationally stood at 8.3 percent, equivalent to 349,000 young people between the ages of 14 and 29, of which 14.5 percent are college graduates. Read more.
The MexicoBlog of the Americas Program, a fiscally sponsored program of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), is written by Laura Carlsen. I monitor and analyze international press on Mexico, with a focus on security, immigration, human rights and social movements for peace and justice, from a feminist perspective. And sometimes I simply muse.
Showing posts with label Mexico informal economy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mexico informal economy. Show all posts
Sep 11, 2014
Nov 14, 2013
Mexico economic reality doesn't fit 'Aztec Tiger' narrative
Aljazeera
by Adam Goodman
For the last decade Victoria Alvarez Flores worked 10 hours a day, six days a week, 51 weeks a year at a Mexico City laundromat. Her round-trip commute from a town just outside the city added another four and a half hours to an already long day. The pay was modest, the benefits nonexistent, but at least she had a job. That is, until the owner sold the business.
On Oct. 27 the laundromat closed, marking Alvarez's first day of unemployment. It was her 54th birthday.
Alvarez’s situation is not uncommon. In the past year Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto — along with much of the international media — has emphasized the growth of the Mexican middle class and portrayed the country as an economic success story, an Aztec Tiger. The reality, however, is quite different.
“The Mexican economy is going through a recession right now,” said Gerardo Esquivel, a professor at the Center for Economic Studies at the Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City. “The numbers that have been mentioned in terms of the growth of the middle class have been grossly exaggerated. There is not a clear definition of what middle class is.” Read more.
by Adam Goodman
For the last decade Victoria Alvarez Flores worked 10 hours a day, six days a week, 51 weeks a year at a Mexico City laundromat. Her round-trip commute from a town just outside the city added another four and a half hours to an already long day. The pay was modest, the benefits nonexistent, but at least she had a job. That is, until the owner sold the business.
On Oct. 27 the laundromat closed, marking Alvarez's first day of unemployment. It was her 54th birthday.
Alvarez’s situation is not uncommon. In the past year Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto — along with much of the international media — has emphasized the growth of the Mexican middle class and portrayed the country as an economic success story, an Aztec Tiger. The reality, however, is quite different.
“The Mexican economy is going through a recession right now,” said Gerardo Esquivel, a professor at the Center for Economic Studies at the Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City. “The numbers that have been mentioned in terms of the growth of the middle class have been grossly exaggerated. There is not a clear definition of what middle class is.” Read more.
Jul 30, 2013
Mexico, where off-the-books work is the rule, not the exception
Global Post
July 30, 2013
Mexico City - Meet Luis Troncoso, enemy of the dynamic modern economy envisioned by Mexico's leaders.
Troncoso, 70, and many of the 150 other street vendors who work with him rise before dawn five days a week, heading first to buy provisions at Mexico City's huge produce distribution center and then to one of the neighborhood streets where they hawk their goods.
"This is the opportunity that we have,” said Troncoso, whose own stall selling an array of candy is flanked by others displaying used clothes, fresh meats, fruits and flowers. “There aren't any other jobs. This work is passed down from generation to generation.” Read more.
July 30, 2013
Mexico City - Meet Luis Troncoso, enemy of the dynamic modern economy envisioned by Mexico's leaders.
Troncoso, 70, and many of the 150 other street vendors who work with him rise before dawn five days a week, heading first to buy provisions at Mexico City's huge produce distribution center and then to one of the neighborhood streets where they hawk their goods.
"This is the opportunity that we have,” said Troncoso, whose own stall selling an array of candy is flanked by others displaying used clothes, fresh meats, fruits and flowers. “There aren't any other jobs. This work is passed down from generation to generation.” Read more.
Jun 26, 2013
Mexico aims to bring shadow economy into the light
Reuters
By Krista Hughes
Jun 26, 2013
Seeking to dismantle a black economy dragging on economic growth, Mexico wants to lure informal workers into the social security net - and the reach of the tax man.
Six in 10 Mexican workers, or 30 million people, live in the informal economy, eroding Mexico's already-low tax base and hindering plans to set up a universal social security system.
"The country loses 3 or 4 percentage points of GDP every year because 60 percent of its workers don't generate any taxes and also don't have social security benefits," Labor Minister Alfonso Navarrete said on Tuesday. Read more.
By Krista Hughes
Jun 26, 2013
Seeking to dismantle a black economy dragging on economic growth, Mexico wants to lure informal workers into the social security net - and the reach of the tax man.
Six in 10 Mexican workers, or 30 million people, live in the informal economy, eroding Mexico's already-low tax base and hindering plans to set up a universal social security system.
"The country loses 3 or 4 percentage points of GDP every year because 60 percent of its workers don't generate any taxes and also don't have social security benefits," Labor Minister Alfonso Navarrete said on Tuesday. Read more.
Jul 1, 2012
What does #Iam132 mean for Mexican youth?
El Pais: Americas Program Original Translation by Anna Moses
See Spanish Original.
The aspirations of young Mexicans are very different, and equally real, like the slogan of a student protest in Mexico City- "Be informed, vote, and turn off the stupid television"- and painted on a wall in a provincial town: "I would prefer to die young and rich than old and broken like my father."
The first phrase is a slogan of the "I am #132" movement, the first far-reaching political youth movement of the century, the modern, urban and technological face of the new generation. A critical wave that began in the social networks in May, the movement took to the streets of the capital with a tide of young people that denounced the supposed alliance between the big communication networks and the PRI candidate, Enrique Peña Nieto, front runner for the elections on July 1st.
The movement threw the PRI campaign into confusion and damaged the PRI’s voting expectations, however, not bringing it down from its first place in the polls, and had such an influence that three of the four candidates- with the exception of Peña Nieto- participated in a student-organized debate.
The other phrase is on a wall in Culiacán, capital of Sinaloa province. The quote is from the writer, Humberto Padgett, winner of the Ortage and Gasset 2012 prize for the book "The Lost Boys" which was based on interviews with young prisoners. "When I was asking them what they wanted to be, they said “El Chapo” Guzmán, the boss of the Sinaloa cartel, the one who kills most, who f---- most, the worst b------, and they were asking me if it was worth the effort of studying to end up selling tacos in the street, like their older brothers."
See Spanish Original.
The aspirations of young Mexicans are very different, and equally real, like the slogan of a student protest in Mexico City- "Be informed, vote, and turn off the stupid television"- and painted on a wall in a provincial town: "I would prefer to die young and rich than old and broken like my father."
The first phrase is a slogan of the "I am #132" movement, the first far-reaching political youth movement of the century, the modern, urban and technological face of the new generation. A critical wave that began in the social networks in May, the movement took to the streets of the capital with a tide of young people that denounced the supposed alliance between the big communication networks and the PRI candidate, Enrique Peña Nieto, front runner for the elections on July 1st.
The movement threw the PRI campaign into confusion and damaged the PRI’s voting expectations, however, not bringing it down from its first place in the polls, and had such an influence that three of the four candidates- with the exception of Peña Nieto- participated in a student-organized debate.
The other phrase is on a wall in Culiacán, capital of Sinaloa province. The quote is from the writer, Humberto Padgett, winner of the Ortage and Gasset 2012 prize for the book "The Lost Boys" which was based on interviews with young prisoners. "When I was asking them what they wanted to be, they said “El Chapo” Guzmán, the boss of the Sinaloa cartel, the one who kills most, who f---- most, the worst b------, and they were asking me if it was worth the effort of studying to end up selling tacos in the street, like their older brothers."
Feb 16, 2012
Mexico Economy: A face among Mexico's 14 million informal workers
latimes.com: "Street vendors belong to an army of off-the-book workers who now make up a record 14 million Mexicans pumping money into the informal economy, the national statistics institute reported last week. The number of informal workers in Mexico has increased by 1.6 million since 2010, the statistics agency reported. Overall, informal laborers make up nearly a third of all those employed in Mexico." read more
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