3.7 million children and adolescents between the ages of 5 and 17 are involved in child labor in Mexico, according to the report of the national survey of child labor, conducted by the Mexican National Institute of Statistics.
According to the report, “this figure is 1.7 percentage points higher than recorded in 2019, which means that child labor has increased significantly after the covid-19 pandemic in Mexico, where the 3.7 million economically active minors represent 13.1% of the total population aged 5-17 years”.
“Of the 2.1 million children and adolescents engaged in illegal activities, 1.1 million of them were engaged in economic sectors with dangerous activities such as agriculture, construction, mining, chemical industry and others, while another 1.1 million carried out activities that affected their health and development, such as carrying heavy objects,”he noted.
“Another aspect that has been assessed is the number of working minors who also go to school . It turned out that at least 1.3 million, or 60.1%, attended school, while 0.9 million, 39.9%, did not attend classes,”he said.
