This document presents some hypotheses about child labor in Guadalajara, Mexico. It discusses gender disparities in child mortality, health, and vulnerability. Working instead of attending school can negatively impact children's long-term development and earnings potential. Poverty is a main cause of child labor. The document then focuses specifically on Guadalajara, noting the presence of child labor, especially among poor families and indigenous groups. Characteristics of children working in the streets are described. Three preliminary hypotheses are that parents are more apprehensive about older girls working due to safety concerns; social roles define expectations that girls' domestic responsibilities increase with age, shifting their work inside the home.

1. S OME HYPOTHESES ABOUT CHILD
LABOR IN G UADALAJARA , M EXICO :
Patricia Murrieta Cummings
Profesor Investigador, Universidad de Guadalajara
February 2010

2. G ENDER DISPARITIES
 “Gender disparities exist before birth and become
wider through the school-age and adolescent years”
(Kurz & Prather, 1995)
 Youngest age group: mortality rates, health care and
nutrition
 School-age group: Social and cultural vulnerability
increases greatly (increased work responsibilities, time
spend in domestic chores, pregnancy, gender violence,
etc.)
 Disparity reduction between boys and girls, as “a
mayor strategy for the achievement of the goals for
children and development (…)” UNICEF, 1991

3. T HE NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF
W ORK INSTEAD OF SCHOOL
 It impacts children’s long term ability to satisfy their needs through a more
effective use of personal resources (Behrman, 1989)
 Decreases the possibility of having a good income. In México a person with 6
years of schooling earns almost 100% more than someone without studies. The
difference with someone who completed secondary school is of 170% (López,
2005:91).
 Child labor contributes to create a poverty trap as households substitute
education by child work, in an attempt to increase daily income within the
household. (Ravallion, et.al, 2000; Ureña, 2008)
 Is a constraint to human capital , and therefore, to economic growth and
development (Udry, 2006; Glewwe & Hacoby, 1994).
 Boys and girls that go to school at the same time that work decrease their
learning competence because of the lack of time for studying and because of
being tired (Heady, 2000)
 Can be hazardous (UNICEF, 1991; Kurz & Prather, 1995; López, 2005; OIT, 2004)

4. W HY DO CHILDREN WORK ?
 In Latin America and in many developing countries,
many children work and study (López, 2005; Blanco,
2009; Gustafsson-Wright, 2000).
 Economic development and child labor are strongly
correlated (Edmonds, 2005)
 Poverty is seen as one of the main causes (López,
2005; Basu y Van, 1998; Ureña, 2008; Canagarajah,
et.al., 1997; Heady 2000; Edmonds, 2005)
 Household well-being (Dar et.al. 2002)

5. ¿Q UÉ PASA EN M ÉXICO ?
 Poor people
 High risk: Walking through the cars, exposed to
severe weather conditions, subject to
agression from drivers, accidents.
 20.7% working children are exposed to risk
(Módulo de Trabajo Infantil, ENOE, 2007)
*Without including street children, therefore
percentage should be higher.
 2007, 549 children working on the streets and
city markets. 67% boys. (Estudio municipal
sobre trabajo en la calle, DIF Guadalajara,
Coordinación de Protección a la Infancia,
2007b)
 Worst forms of child labor: slavery, exposition
to health problems and dangerous situations,
risks linked to personal security. (Organización
Internacional del Trabajo y Unión
Interparlamentaria UIP, 2002:15)

6. G UADALAJARA
 Data shows: More boys than girls work on the streets
 Reports at world-wide level (Kurz & Prather, 1995; UNICEF,
2006; Blanco Allais, 2009) and data at local level (Consejo
Estatal de Población, 2009; Consejo Nacional de Población,
2009; Coordinación de Protección a la Infancia, 2007;
Instituto Nacional de las Mujeres, 2007) show greater
social and cultural vulnerability for women than for men,
even though there is a higher presence of girls attending
school than boys.
Girls work less than boys
Attend school in a higher proportion

7. R ESEARCH Q UESTION
Why even when girls have a greater presence at
school, and a minor participation in child labor,
they are more vulnerable than boys?
 ¿por qué a pesar de que hay una mayor
presencia de niñas en la escuela primaria, y una
menor participación en el trabajo infantil, la
calidad de vida de las mujeres es inferior a la de
los hombres?

8. F ILLING THE GAP ?
 Few studies about Schooling and child labor in Mexico
 All of them based on the ENOE: statistic. Main
variable: income
 What is behind income?
 Costs of schooling and parents decision
 Impact of culture on parents decission about
schooling
Case study: Families that work on the street of
Guadalajara City

9. W HAT I DO IN THIS PART OF
MY RESEARCH
 I try to explain how the minor presence of girls
working on the streets can be understood as the
result of an exclusion process strongly
embedded in a culture in which women’s tasks
and responsibilities are socially defined and
limited in such a way that an important part of
their work is not visible.
CULTURE HELPS TO HIDE ABUSIVE SITUATIONS
Situations in which children rights are not respected

10. O BJECTIVE
 To show how, even within the most
vulnerable population, women tend to
reproduce more easily what Charles Tilly
(1998) called “durable inequalities”.
 Inequalities that result from subtle forms
of segregation that are reproduced from
one generation to the other.

11. M AIN A IM
 To understand how a culture, strongly
rooted in social roles that tend to
differentiate girls from boys, helps to
reproduce inequalities from one
generation to the other; perpetuating in
this way the disparity in the development
and well being of boys and girls.

12. M AIN A RGUMENT
 Child labor and school attendance can and
Justify better
needs to be explained from a gendernourishment
perspective of boys
 The decision about sending (or not) a child to
school is determined by the perceived cost of
Support of
schooling (Udrey, 2006), and by culturalworkboys’ aspects
related to gender roles in which prejudice about
children’s capacity to study influence decisions
about investing in Perceived cost ofor not. And that
Gender education
School
definitions about gender(earning do both, (1)
roles schooling roles
attendance
influence parent’s opportunity) of boys’ work and (2)
support
Prejudice about
children’s capacity justify better nourishment of boys based on
to study their need to work.

13. C HARLES T ILLY, 1998
 In most households, when families are
confronted by limited amounts of food, decisions
about which family member is going to be well
nourished are continuously being taken.
 A significant amount of literature about
discrimination and gender, presents enough
evidence about unequal treatment among men
and women in many parts of the world (Tilly,
1998).

14. W HAT I’ M PRESENTING HERE
 Hypotheses based on data of child labor in Mexico and
specifically, in the municipality of Guadalajara.
 Descriptive work based on:
 Data sets from the Sistema de Atención a la Familia, DIF
Guadalajara,
 Semi-structured interviews with 65 families that work on
the streets
 Informal conversations with families working on the
streets

15. W HAT I’ M PRESENTING
 The city
 The Families: Mixtecos with a long tradition of migration
and work on the streets
Mixtecos recently arrived
“Tapatios”
 I argue that each of these groups has a particular culture
that influence the way in which children participate in
the labor market and the decision about sending them to
school or not.
 Characteristics of children who work on the streets
 Present five preliminary hypotheses

16. L A ZONA METROPOLITANA
DE GU ADALAJARA
 76% of the population in México lives in urban areas.
Guadalajara is the second largest city in the country. It
is estimated that currently has 4 million habitants
(Consejo Nacional de Población, 2009).
 Mostly women, 28.98% under 15 years old. (>1’200,
000 minors) at least 400,000 living in the municipality
of Gudalajara.
 Population density gives place to more than 80
thousand people living in extreme poverty, 160
thousand in pobreza de capacidades and more than
half million in poberty of partimonio

17. I MPLICATIONS FOR CHILD
LABOR
 High contrast among the population makes
employment as domestic worker easy and
facilitates the existence of an informal market on
the streets.
 I sell, you buy…

18. C HILD LABOR AND CULTURE :
THE FAMILIES
 (2007) At least 1165 persons working on the
streets of the municipality of Guadalajara.
Which represent approximately 250 families.
 At least 40 of them are mixtecos that live in
the poorer zones of Guadalajara.

19. Mixtecos Mixtecos Mixtecos Tapatios
FAMILIES
Col. Ferrocarrilera Col. Ferrocarrilera El Embarcadero
2nd generation Recently arrived Recently arrived Born in the city or
sorroundings
A family member owns a Place of their own, Irregular settlement, Rent a place for their
place to live previously from a relative share the place with other family.
(don’t have papers, but families Lease or borrow a room
feel as if their own) in a relative’s house.
1 or 2 households in the Mostly 1 household per 2 or more households in Mostly 1 household per
same property place of residence the same property place of residence
Children under 5 are still Children under 5 are still Children under 5 are still Children need to go to
small for attending school small for attending school small for attending school school since they are 3
years old
Both men and women can Men are mainly Men are mainly Both men and women can
sell on the streets gardeners; women sell on gardeners; women sell on sell on the streets, but
the streets the streets they are mainly
“franeleros”
Both parents try to learn Few adults speak Spanish. Few adults speak Spanish. Spanish speakers
Spanish or know it
Trying to improve living Not really interested in The poorest of all. Trying to improve living
conditions. Strong interest changing their way of life conditions. Strong interest
in children’s education. Do and no much interest in in children’s education. Do
not want a 3rd generation children’s school. not want their children
of street vendors. working on the streets.
All of them share the lack of opportunities because of education level

20. C HILDREN WORKING ON THE
STREETS OF G UADALAJARA
 More than 335 boys and girls working on the streets of the
muncipality. 58% are boys and 42% girls.
 Most girls: between 7 and 12 years old.
Most boys: between 13 and 17 years old.
 More boys studying than girls.
 Most girls are companions, ask for coins or sell candies. Older
girls clean windshields. Few girls sell artcrafts on the streets.
 Boys prefer to clean windows or sell candies. Smaller boys are
almost always accompanying an adult—it is easier to receive
money if you are with a small child than by yourself. It is more
common to find boys as clowns than girls.

21. T HE MARKETS
 An important amount of children do their activities in the main city
markets.
 (2007) Were found 212 minors working on the 3 main markets of the
municipality
 Strong presence of boys: 80%
 Most boys are carriers (“diableros”).
 Girls: Sell candies, juices or take care of small brothers and sisters.
 More common to find minors working and studying. Given the
possibility of being employed in the small stores, it is more common to
find children with middle school completed, and a high presence of
adolescents.
 Is not common to find indigenous population employed in the markets.
Indigenous women prefer to be selling candies and artcrafts on the
streets.

22. EL TRABAJO OCULTO
 Domestic work is hard to see or measure. Many
families do not recognize domestic work or care
of small brothers and sisters as child labor… it is
meant to be a girl’s responsibility.
 Even some adults that work on the streets,
consider that girls presence on the streets is just
a result of the need to take care of siblings, and
do not report such as child labor.

23. P RELIMINARY FINDINGS AND
H YPOTHESES
Rango de edades Trabaja
Si No
De 4 a 6 Hombre 16.7 % 83.3 %
Mujer 27.3 % 72.7 %
De 7 a 12 Hombre 41.7 % 58.3 %
Mujer 52.9 % 47.1 %
De 13 a 15 Hombre 52.6 % 47.4 %
Mujer 16.7 % 83.3 % During adolescence the
De 16 a 18 Hombre 77.8 % 22.2 % percentage of girls who
work decreases; while
Mujer 60.0 % 40.0 %
the percentage of boys
increases with age.

24. F o r m a n y p a r e n ts g i r l s fa c e m o r e r i s k s th a n
b o ys ; b e c a u se o f th e ir la c k o f c a p a c ity to d e fe n d
th e m se l ves a n d b e c a u se o f th e i r s e xu a l i ty
 H1: Parents are more apprehensive about older
girls working on the streets, than boys or little
girls.
 H2: Sometimes this same concern makes them
decide not to send them to school.
“No es lo mismo ser mujer que hombre en la calle. A nosotras nos molestan
más y sienten que si trabajamos en la calle es porque somos unas locas.
Luego creen que estás buscando alguien con quien irte. A mi llegaron a
respetarme porque me arrejunté con Gustavo, pero yo no dejaría que mi hija
trabajara en el crucero” (Mónica, octubre del 2009)

25. S OCIAL ROLES DEFINE WHAT A GIRL OR A BOY HAS
TO DO . I N SOME CASES THESE ROLES ARE
IMPOSED , AND IN OTHERS LEARNED BY IMITATION .
H3: As girls grow, their responsibility toward the household
increases, with which child labor moves from the streets to
their home.
 Women’s work (or not to do it) is a social act strongly
embedded in an economic, social and cultural
dynamic; as Beşpinar-Ekici argues, patriarchal values
determine how women live their work experience and
the general ideas and expectations about a women’s
work. (Beşpinar-Ekici, 2007)

26. T IME SPENT ON DOMESTIC
WORK , BY SEX
Rango de edad
Sexo De 4 a 6 De 7 a 12 De 13 a 15 De 16 a 18 Total
Hombre Media .0158 .4895 1.4150 3.7222 1.9590
Desviación
.06882 .88647 1.89244 8.01994 5.80752
Estándar
N 19 38 20 9 105
Mujer Media .0909 .7559 1.9615 1.5300 2.7281
Desviación
.30151 1.54904 2.84474 1.89388 6.75475
Estándar
N 11 34 13 10 89

27. B OYS SPEND MORE TIME WORKING
ON THE STREETS THAN GIRLS
 But, when you take into consideration both: work on the
streets and domestic work, girls between 7and 12 years old,
work more hours than boys.
 Girls have a double “jornada” that is not evident on existing
statistics about child labor. Many work on the streets at the
same time that they do domestic work and study: a triple
“jornada”.
 During adolescence, girls work less than boys for payment.
Some leave the streets to work as domestic workers or to help
with the household needs so their mother can work.
H4: In Mexico, ideas about what a girl is meant to do because she
is a women influence considerably in the double “jornada” they
have to do when they are between 7 and 12 years old (elementary
school girls)

28. S CHOOL ATTENDANCE
Rango de edades Estudia
Si No
During adolescence, the
De 4 a 6 Hombre 52.9 % 47.1 %
minor presence of girls in
Mujer 40.0 % 60.0 %
the labor market is still not
Total 48.1 51.9 %
reflected in school
De 7 a 12 Hombre 94.7 % 5.3 %
attendance.
Mujer 87.1 % 12.9 %
Total 91.3 % 8.7%
The higher proportion of
De 13 a 15 Hombre 88.2 % 11.8 %
girls attending school takes
Mujer 76.9 % 23.1 %
place during high school.
Total 83.3 % 6.7 %
De 16 a 18 Hombre 37.5 % 62.5 %
The proportion of girls who
Mujer 44.4 % 55.6 %
drop school is less than that
Total 41.2 % 58.8 %
of boys

29. G ETTING OUT OF SCHOOL
 Based on studies about school attendance, it is
common for boys to leave school because they do
not get adapted or because they have a hard time
studying (Rizzini, 2009).
H5: Girls are more capable of adapting to school than
boys—it is less common for girls to get involved in school
conflicts, than for boys. Although, the double “jornada”
and the importance that is given to matternity and to
women’s responsibility of taking care of the house, gives
place to a lack of interest in school and a difficulty to do
well at school.

30. C ONCLUSIONS AND FINAL
REMARKS
 Based on existing data, it seems that boys are subject to a
greater negative impact than girls. Nevertheles, when we
take into consideration the information obtained with
working families (qualitative data), it seems that women
suffer more of a double working day than boys and are left
behind at school more easily than boys.
 The greatest negative impact for girls takes place during
elementary school, because they do not have time for
recreation and study, because they need to help their
family.
 During adolescence, the negative impact has more to do
with a consequence of their infancy—being left behind at
school—and with the possibility of getting pregnant at a
young age, than with the double “working day”.

31. L ACK OF CLARITY IN THE DIMENSION OF
THE DISPARITY BETWEEN BOYS AND
GIRLS DEVELOPMENT
 Apparently there are significant differences in terms os access to
school and the need to work that should benefit women.
 Nevertheless, as I have tried to show, there are disparities that are
hard to observe if we just base our analysis on statistics; and that
have a significant impact on a long term.
 Disadvantages that if we do not observe, can give place to mothers
of children with a minor life expectancy during their first years of
life; and as Kurz and Prather argue, it is probable that those who
survive would have worst health, lower education level and be less
confident, with which the poverty cycle and the lack of guarantee to
human rights would continue. (Kurz y Prather, 1995: 1)
If we want to guarantee human rights, we need take into consideration
gender differences