3.5 Million Mexican Children Quit School For Work

by Diego Cevallos

The girl, of Native origin, works for a company that distributes fruit in the Mexican capital. She is not protected by any labor laws.

When asked if she is thinking about returning to school, which she quit a year ago, Isabel responds, "I don't think so. There's no way. We need the money."

Among child workers in Mexico, 73.5 percent of those polled have dropped out of school, says a household survey conducted by the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Information Science (INEGI).

The INEGI study also reveals that child workers average one to two years less schooling than minors who do not work.

There are an estimated 3.5 million children working in Mexico -- in other words, 25 percent of all 12- to 18-year-olds in the country.

But non-governmental organizations specializing in children's rights report that there are approximately 38 million people under 18 in Mexico, or 38 percent of the national population of 100 million, and the number of those who work surpasses 10 million.

The INEGI survey indicates that approximately 629,000 Mexican households survive on the income provided by children.

The poll also shows that 42 percent of child workers are found in the agricultural sector, 23 percent in services, 17 percent in commercial activities, 14 percent in industry and 4 percent in construction.

Half the Mexican population is poor, while there are 22.5 million poor minors, of whom 8 million live in extreme poverty, according to a 1998-2000 report by the non-governmental Children's Support Collective.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), meanwhile, has pointed out that poverty in developing countries would rise 10 to 20 percent if children did not work, underscoring that it is a no-win situation.

Isabel, whose mother moved to the Mexican capital to work as a domestic employee, said she likes to pack fruit, but she would also like to return to school, which she had to abandon in the fifth grade.

"Sometimes I get tired of this (packing), but you have find the motivation to do it. Someday I'll see if I can switch to a better 'chamba' (job)," she said.

"The situation of children in Mexico is crudely expressed in the structural violence and destruction exercised by neo-liberalism," commented Andres Barreda, professor of political economy at the Autonomous National University of Mexico (UNAM).

If child workers cannot study, it will be difficult for them to escape the cycle of poverty their families suffer. In the future, their children will also work, and the cycle is reproduced, Barreda said.

Isabel said her mother wants her to return to school to study and "be somebody." But she also points out that, for now, the most important thing is money because her father lost his job as a night watchman at a housing complex.

"There are few parents who have internalized the idea that educating their children is an investment," according to Teresa Inchaustegui, a researcher at the College of Mexico. Most parents are only thinking of today's income, the money needed to cover the family's immediate necessities, she said.

Mexico's President Vicente Fox promised during his electoral campaign that he would launch a program guaranteeing "scholarships" for children who want to continue in school, and credits for their families to start up small businesses.

However, eight months into Fox's six-year term, the programs have barely gotten started and do not cover even 5 percent of the target population.

"We don't know anything about those programs," said Isabel. "I hope someone will tell us what they are about."