Child Labor and the Peril of a Lost Education in Mexico Natasha Ghoneim - Al Jazeera | |
go to original February 2, 2016 |
Sugar cane laborer Fernando dropped out of school two years ago and not only helps support his family but often loans money to friends. (Natasha Pizzey/Al Jazeera)
According to the National Statistics Institute, 2.5 million children are working in Mexico. A 2013 World Bank report says 870,000 working children are below the age of 13.
One of the ways Mexico has tried to keep children in class and not at work is through the Prospera, or Prosper, program.
Launched in 1997, it offers what's called in NGO lingo "conditional cash transfers". The Mexican government gave $500m last year to 6.1 million families, according to data provided by Prospera.
The payments are an incentive for parents to keep their children in school and, in exchange, the families have to meet certain requirements and attend workshops such as sex education and family planning.
Reynalda Barragan Pastrana says the Prospera program altered the course of her three daughters' lives.
Nine years ago, the single mum says, she and her daughters were living in a 5m x 5m room, and were struggling to meet basic needs. Her eldest daughter was thinking about dropping out of school to spend her days making food to sell in the market.
But with the $2,000 a year she received from the government, her eldest daughter is now a high school graduate, recently promoted to store manager, and her other two daughters are well on their way to graduating from high school as well.
Even Reynalda herself was able to take advantage of the program to finish her secondary education.
Read the whole story at Al Jazeera
Related: Mexico Violence Linked to Youth Unemployment: Report (InSight Crime)
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