Mexico Moves Closer to Possible Minimum Wage Hike Anna Yukhananov - Reuters
go to original November 13, 2015

Although many applaud Mexico’s presumed economic growth, the country has the lowest minimum wage in Latin America and over the past decade it has actually dropped in dollar terms. (TeleSUR)

A committee in Mexico's lower house of Congress voted overwhelmingly in favor of a measure that moves Latin America's No. 2 economy a step closer to increasing its low minimum wage, which has fallen in real terms over more than three decades.

The measure, which would decouple the minimum wage from how some fines, levies and contributions are calculated, is part of President Enrique Pena Nieto's bid to boost economic growth and the purchasing power of low-income Mexicans.

The current daily minimum wage in Mexico is 70.10 pesos ($4.19), placing it below most of its peers in Latin America and dead last among the 34-country Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The minimum wage is now used as a benchmark for a host of other prices, including fines, worker contributions for subsidized home loans and public financing for political parties, meaning any measures to raise it would have repercussions far beyond labor markets.

A committee in the Chamber of Deputies voted 22 to 1 to separate the minimum wage from being a reference for other prices, gaining the support of parties across the political spectrum.

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