A muldimesional index of labor vulnerability in Mexico (Decent Work)

According to Mexican Labor Laws and ILO Regulations we build and index of decent work using all existing panels of the National Survey of Occupation and Unemployment for Mexico (ENOE, 2005-2011). This index is multidimensional and takes into account eight dimensions, one monetary and seven non monetary, which are labor income, hours worked, social security, family care, sufficient work, protection to labor rights, respect to labor rights and job stability. This index shows that more than 60% of the Mexican labor force has a non-decent job, which means that don’t have enough labor income to buy the food basket and at least one of the labor rights is violated. Additionally, about 30% of the population that can afford the food basket have a job that violates at least one right and are called vulnerable by MEL (minimum labor standards). Moreover, about 10% of the population whose job complies with MEL has a wage that is not enough to buy the food basket. In summary there are more than 90% of the labor force in Mexico that suffers from one type of vulnerability. When we look at the index by age group, children and the elderly are the most vulnerable, and an analysis by sex makes woman much more vulnerable than men. Across time we can observe that after 2008 the percentage of people with no decent work has increased. These results are alarming as this implies that Mexican population suffer from non safety nets in case they lose a job, when they have it, as more than 60% of the labor force reports have been inactive at least one trimester during a given year