ENIGH: Women Made 34.3 Percent Less than Men in 2020

Mexico’s 2020 National Survey of Household Income and Expenditure (ENIGH) indicated that women made an average of MX$14,000 (US$705) per trimester, 34.3 percent less than men in the workforce. Notably, because of the pandemic, men had to take a pay cut and so made 4.4 percent less than they had made in 2018. In contrast, women actually increased their earnings from 2018 by 1.4 percent.

On average, women without children or with one or two children earned the most, pocketing between MX$16,067 (US$809) and MX$17,454 (US$878). Indigenous women, made a modest 1.4 percent increase from 2018. Women with four or more children earned the least, for an average of MX$12,594 (US$634), a 27.84 percent gap between them and the highest female earners.

Men between the ages of 19 and 59 experienced pay cuts, but those between the ages of 50 and 59 bore the greatest brunt, enduring a whopping 15 percent pay cut, amounting to MX$5,062 (US$255). Following this age group, men between the ages of 30 and 39 are coping with a MX$2,500 (US$126) deduction. Meanwhile, the least affected age group was men between 40 and 49, who only had to deal with a 5 percent cut.

Interestingly, despite Mexico’s economic contraction and ongoing pandemic, women’s earnings have actually increased since 2018. However, because men recorded a loss in earnings this affects household incomes overall. Regionally, the highest earning households were Nuevo Leon with MX$72,931 (US$3,670), Baja California with MX$67,821 (US$3,413) and Mexico City with MX$67,357 (US$3,389). Overall, by trimester, households earned an average of MX$50,309 (US$2,532), a diminution of 5.8 percent from 2018. Employment accounted for 63.8 percent of household income, followed with 17.6 percent in remittances and another 18.5 percent from renting.

However, in spite of a 1.4 percent increase in earnings, women are still underpaid compared to men and continually pushed out of the labor market as they are socially deemed responsible for housework and child rearing. This frugal advance has done little to bridge the 0.5 equity gap, and the progress is only because men have been paid less during the past two years.