The yearbook reported that the construction sector is the one in which the most Mexicans work, with 21% (almost 32% of men and 3.2% of women), followed by professional services (13.6%), hospitality and recreation (13%). and manufacturing (12.8%).
Women working
“There are more and more migrant women who go and work, regardless of whether they are going to reach a family member. Many women are employed in services and lodging,” with a labor force participation of more than 50%, explained Sofía Ramírez, general director of Mexico, how are we doing?
“Households of first-generation Mexican origin population where the head is married and lives with relatives was 51.3%.” In addition, more than 1.98 million households are headed by women, the yearbook showed, and just over two million are headed by men.
“The same thing happens with manufacturing. There are a higher percentage of women working in manufacturing (around 12%) than men (less than 10%), although not in absolute terms. Manufacturing is a place where women feel comfortable, possibly because they have eight-hour shifts and that allows for greater time management,” she added.
Another reason for the diversification in the occupation of Mexicans who migrate to the United States is explained because “the service sector has gained importance in the United States, and there are many moonlighting jobs there. It is possible that some work in the construction sector and on weekends in the services sector,” said Gabriela Siller, director of economic-financial analysis at Banco Base.
The services and commerce sector is the one in which the highest percentage of women works, with more than 45%, followed by management, business, financial occupations and professional services, whose percentage is close to 20%, according to the BBVA document. and Conapo.
Although second and third generation Mexicans, who were born in the United States and are more employed in other sectors, “stop sending remittances,” only first generation Mexicans do so, Ramírez stressed.
A Mexican worker earns an average of $25,570 a year, below what people in other Latin American countries such as Haiti (34,323), Colombia (33,780), Venezuela (31,500) and El Salvador (32,049) earn.
In this area there is also a wage gap between men and women.
Threat of mass deportations
US President-elect Donald Trump has said he will carry out mass deportations, focusing on undocumented immigrants.
The BBVA and Conapo yearbook states that there are 4 million first-generation Mexicans without papers in the United States.
It is not ruled out that there will be mass deportations, although not on the scale that Trump has mentioned.
“We believe the probability is low because that would cause very significant damage to the United States. Can Trump do it? I suppose that if they put in a lot of resources, they can do it, but if they want to carry out a measure that will possibly lead to a recession and cause a serious inflationary problem, it seems to me that we should think that it is a scenario with low probability,” said Carlos Serrano, chief economist at BBVA Mexico.
