Ep. 39: Mexico’s inequality, wages, and working conditions

According to Eugenia: 'Mexico, a high middle income country, is the place where professionals work more hours than anywhere else in the world (OCDE), and 60% of its population lives in poverty (CONEVAL). Working 8 hours, six days a week, with a daily commute of 3 hours means people are exhausted, and their remaining time is just sufficient to do chores and rest a bit, forget about checking on children, socialising, exercising, cultivating other interests and caring for others. Imagine the stress levels and the socioeconomic impact of this on society as a whole. On top of that, 40% of people with formal jobs cannot even afford proper food for their families, and we have not even reached the conversation about clothing and housing. Furthermore, four years ago I moved to the South, Mexico´s poorest region, where I encountered realities that are as harsh as in Africa, and the number of them are kind of overwhelming. It feels like a breaking point for me. I cannot help but raise awareness about these issues, and hope that more people will join in transforming these realities for the best. A CLARIFICATION NOTE During the show I mentioned how Mexico was dubbed “the perfect dictatorship” as the electoral bodies were subjected to the government, which is true. As a result, we had a one-ruling party for over 70 years. However, I forgot to mention during the show that in 1990 a new system was negotiated and by 2020 it was considered one of the most robust in the world. This system has overseen the rotation of power among the three main political parties, and it is now under threat as the current dominant party relentlessly tries to pass unconstitutional law reforms taking advantage of their majority in the legislative cameras, influencing judicial decisions, and blocking the operations of both the electoral and transparency institutions, by slashing their budgets and failing to allocate enough representatives to reach quorum.'