Over two million children work in Mexico

In Mexico, at least two million children work, one third of them in the agricultural sector, said the director of Save the Children Mexico, María Josefina Menéndez.

This number of children, aged between 5 and 17 years, is equivalent to the 10 percent of the child population but it is believed that the real figure is nearly four million children working, said Menéndez at the opening of a Care and Education Center for children of laborers in the Pozo de Ibarra community.

She recalled that the reforms to prevent child labor enacted in 2015 put Mexico at the international forefront, but to date issues such as the minimum legal age to work -which is 18 years- are poorly known, so it is required the collaboration of government and private initiative to carry out such reforms.

The Care and Education Center for children opened today is a project to provide education, basic health care and nutrition to children of laborers, in which are involved local, state and federal institutions, as well as civil organizations and corporate Philip Morris, the main tobacco buyer produced in the region.