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EspañolFigures show that an immigrant‘s income in the United States can be as much as six times higher than someone working an equivalent job in Mexico. This trend is proving to be increasingly true, as Mexican incomes in the US move further and further away each year.
Income is just one of many factors that incline Mexican workers to stay in the United States. But while quality of life and academics poll as major factors in deciding whether to return to their home country or not, the competitiveness of wages appears to be the top factor.
According to the Current Population Survey 2015 conducted by the United States government, 50 percent of men and 25 percent of immigrant women from Mexico earn more than MXN 50 thousand pesos (US $2,500) a month. In Mexico, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography found the average income for a professional is MXN $7,600 pesos (US $381).
This wage discrepancy makes it easy to understand why Mexicans residing in the United States ask American-based Mexican consulates to help them stay in US territory.
Mexican immigrants who earn less income in the United States almost always earn more than even many high-earners in Mexico, because an undocumented immigrant working a blue-collar job earns at least US $8 per hour, meaning that they earn US $1,600 per month, or MXN $32,000 pesos — an almost unthinkable figure in Mexican farming.
Currently, 84 percent of Mexican immigrants only have a high school degree. In spite of their low academic level, only six percent of men and 16 percent of women receive an income of US $8 per hour, so the odds of having a higher income are good.
Source: Milenio
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