MINIMUM WAGE DECLINING IN REAL TERMS

In the past twenty years, the minimum wage lost 81% of its purchasing power, according to a report issued by the Center for Multidisciplinary Analysis of the Economic Faculty of the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

The Fox administration is proposing only a 4.5% increase in the minimum wage, to take effect January 1, 2003, despite official estimates of inflation of 5.6% for 2003.

Two decades ago, the minimum wage could purchase 13 gallons of gas or 55 pounds of tortillas, while today's minimum wage is equivalent to 1.7 gallons of gas or 18 pounds of tortillas. The value of the minimum wage began to decline in 1977. Meanwhile, about one-third of Mexico's labor force begins work at the age of eleven and about half of these workers remain in the same job when they reach adulthood, according to a study published by the National Institute of Women and the World Bank.

For more information, contact the Network at msn@mexicosolidarity.org