INEGI Reports Majority of Mexican Workers Struggle with Lack of Benefits Mauricio Torres - CNN Mexico
go to original May 9, 2013

Rey Alejandro Román has had his own business for the past five years. When he found out he was going to have a child, he utilized his savings to open an Internet cafe San Vicente Chicoloapan, a town in the state of Mexico. Since then, he has maintained his family with the money the establishment generates.

Román says that working independently has advantages in comparison to being an employee, like not having to deal with pressure from a boss or what days to work or not. However, he admits that it also entails negative aspects. Among those, is that he cannot count on benefits like social security [health insurance and pension], holiday pay or bonuses.

"Nobody gives me vacations. If I want one, I don't open for a week or two, but it's time that I'm not going to generate money. And when December comes, well what annual bonus?" He says.

Like Román, 31, more than half of Mexican workers labor without benefits according to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI).

At the close of 2012, the country had 48,200,000 workers. Of those, 63% lacked access to social security institutions [which include government health clinics] and 54% couldn't rely on benefits or productivity bonuses, indicated the National Survey of Occupation and Employment, produced quarterly by INEGI since 2005.

Read the rest at Mexico Voices

Translated by Latisha Hicks

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