Although there are no studies or precise data, it is estimated that up to 30 percent of the amount of remittances that arrive in Mexico come from women, particularly those between the ages of 20 and 45, pointed out academics from the Institute of Economic Research ?IIEc? of the National Autonomous University of Mexico ?UNAM?.
During the round table "They also leave: Migrant women", the academic Alejandro Méndez highlighted that Currently, more women migrate, especially mothers, and young women enter the labor market, since female labor is cheaper and because there are productive activities that require their work.
He stressed that currently the proportion of women in migratory flows is important, but also in society in general.
In this sense, she stressed that currently the digital economy has opened precarious work spaces for women and the sector in which a considerable proportion of them is inserted is care.
For her part, the academic Daniela Castro Alquicira, specified that in the last five decades migration has grown significantly, and in 2023 almost 300 million people are outside their countries of origin; female migration is part of it.
She affirmed that from the gender perspective there are differences in the way in which women and men migrate, as well as in the consequences of this mobility both in the communities of origin and in the countries of transit, destination and return such as Mexico.
Until a few years ago, he specified, the female figure was not perceived in these processes and it seemed that they were people with little mobility, since they are traditionally associated with household chores and that they do not migrate.
However, he said, since 1960 it has been observed that the proportion of this migrant population is the same as that of men, that is, half, which indicates that they are just as mobile as men.
However, in them this process has certain characteristics, because when they make this decision or are forced to carry it out, the care of their children falls on other women; In the case of men, their role as provider continues to be covered by them, for example.
Among the reasons why women migrate are to seek better employment opportunities or continue studying, family reunification or because their lives and those of their loved ones are at risk in their place of origin, for which reason asylum and refuge are also They are important causes.
According to academic Patricia Pozos, regarding young Mexican migrants in the United States, it has been documented that there are 12 and 13-year-olds who go to work, whose parents migrated to the neighboring country.
He mentioned that, currently, these young people are leaving to join the labor force, because the salaries of the heads of the family are insufficient to support household expenses.
"It is always heard that in the countries of origin they do not give them the necessary opportunities for development, that is true, but what is not said is that the young population, documented or not, is necessary in the countries of arrival because they endure the long working days, do not get sick and therefore do not require medical services; Mexicans are the youngest in the labor market," he added.
In addition, Pozos explained, their lack of experience to demand labor rights, are the ones who take over from the US population that is beginning to retire and there is not enough youthful population to replace them.
According to the American Community Survey, only one in ten Mexicans residing in the United States has citizenship; that is, 11.5 percent; and a lower percentage have the opportunity to join the schools.
You may be interested in: Climate change: key factor in migratory movements
