If all the laws currently on the books in Mexico were effectively enforced, the nation would resemble something akin to a utopia. But too often, the enforcement capacity of federal, state and municipal governments is ham-strung by powerful forces, often of an economic and/or cultural nature.
Such may be the case regarding the use of child labor, which, while being a national issue, especially plagues the state of Jalisco, which leads the country in frequency of its use.
According to Maria Rita Chavez Gutierrez, research professor in the Department of Social Development at the University of Guadalajara’s Center for Humanities and Social Sciences, Jalisco has “the highest rate of child labor (10.3 percent) in relation to the national average (8.1 percent).”
“UNICEF’s report for 2015 had 137,646 children working in the state of Jalisco, 51-percent of which are within the Guadalajara metropolitan area,” detailed Chavez Gutierrez, who hastened to mention that the Secretary of Labor’s estimate was higher, at 200,000 children.
A spokesman for the National Institute of Statistics and Geography, who conducted a far-reaching study on child labor leading up to World Day Against Child Labor on June 12, highlighted its wider systemic effects.
“The use of child labor perpetuates a vicious circle of poverty by preventing kids from acquiring the qualifications and skills necessary for securing a better future for themselves.”