Your Money or Your Life!

208/YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE!

At the end of the day, the combination of privatisation and NAFTA

has deepened Mexico's renewed dependence on its northern

neighbour.

Social Effects of Neo-Liberal Policies

In 1995, the fortune of the wealthiest Mexican was 6.6 billion

dollars - equal to the combined total annual income of 17 million

of his poorest compatriots. (UNDP, 1997)

The neo-liberal policies implemented since 1982 have increased
structural unemployment. Mexico should have created 12 million
jobs between 1982 and 1994 to meet the demands of a growing
population; only 2.4 million were created. The crisis unleashed by
capital flight in December 1994 wiped out 850,000 jobs in 1995; the
country's GDP fell 6.9 per cent in 1995. By 1997, the country had a
job deficit of 20 million, for a population of 91.9 million. By April
1997, it was estimated that there were the same number of jobs in
absolute terms as before the December 1994 crisis; in the meantime,
however, 2 million more people had entered the labour market.
There has also been a calamitous fall in purchasing power. The
minimum monthly wage is S100. Arural school teacher earns S200
per month. In 1996, the minimum wage dropped to its lowest level
since it was created in 19 3 5 under Lazaro Cardenas. According to the
Confederation of Mexican Employers (Coparmex), only 3.5 workers
out of every 10 (34.6 per cent, to be exact) earn S200 or more per
month. Coparmex also says that 15 per cent of workers receive no
money wage whatever (5 million workers, of whom 3.2 million work
in agriculture), 20 per cent earn less than the S100 monthly
minimum wage, and the remaining 30 per cent make between one
and two minimum wages per month (La Jornada, 21 July 1996). The
situation is much worse for women: fewer than 20 per cent of women
workers earn S200 per month or more.
Between 1977 and 1996, the minimum wage lost 8 0.8 per cent of
its buying power.
Workers must work 3.2 times longer today in order to replicate
1970 consumption levels. In 1976, wages accounted for 40.3 per
cent of GDP; today they account for less than 21 per cent.