Child labor stagnates in Mexico, affecting 3.5 million minors

Child labor stagnates in Mexico, affecting 3.5 million minors

The article reveals that a decade after the last significant measurement, Mexico continues to report alarming levels of child labor, affecting millions of minors who combine prohibited activities with household chores under risky conditions. This persistence demonstrates that legal prohibitions alone are insufficient, as the phenomenon has become deeply entrenched in households due to family economic crises that force children to work, even when their school attendance is already compromised. It is crucial to highlight that child labor is no longer confined to public spaces but occurs predominantly within homes, where girls and adolescents perform exhausting and dangerous domestic tasks that harm their health and development. This hidden paradigm shift within the home exacerbates gender inequalities, disproportionately impacting girls, and underscores the need for policies that recognize this invisible reality and address the structural causes that keep families in vulnerable situations. This analysis is highly relevant to open data because it shows how transparency and access to official statistics, such as those from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), are fundamental tools for bringing to light complex social issues that general information often overlooks. By breaking down data by gender, geographic area, and type of activity, accountability is enabled, allowing civil society and policymakers to design more precise and effective interventions, transforming raw data into tangible social justice.

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