Young Mexicans have few job prospects

A recent article in the daily newspaper La Jornada talked about how Mexico´s adolescents are among the most forgotten groups in society.

Academics at the National University (UNAM) blame this on the lack of public policies, family crises and the fact that staying in school doesn´t help one´s job prospects.

An estimated 7 to 9 million adolescents in Mexico are neither employed nor in school. In Mexico City, about half of all adolescents are in that category.

Even a student who graduates from high school or obtains a college degree has no guarantee of getting a job, according to authorities quoted in La Jornada.

In many families, one parent has left home to find work in another state or country, which means the young people don´t get the guidance they need.

As a result, many young people enter the informal economy, which means street vendors, casual labor in construction, housemaids, washing cars and other types of unstable employment.

In the building where I live in Guadalajara, a 16-year-old boy works as the caretaker and gardener for a small salary. He dropped out of school to work.

In some cases, adolescents get into illegal activities, such as the drug trade. Grafitti on a wall in Culiacán, Sinaloa, expressed the attitude of some who go that route: "I prefer to die young and rich rather than old and poor".