Labor Force Participation of Central American Migrant Women in Mexico

Abstract

Central Americans living in Mexico remain a small group (100 thousand) relative to the size of the Mexican population. However, they experienced accelerated growth between 2000 and 2020, with Guatemalans as the largest group and Hondurans as the most dynamic one. The previous literature has found a positive and significant, albeit decreasing, income advantage of Central American workers in Mexico. Meanwhile, the percentage of migrant women reported as spouses has gone down and the female labor force has increased. The paper uses information from the 2000, 2010, and 2020 Mexican censuses as well as the 2015 Intercensal Survey to compare access to the labor market for men and women from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras residing in Mexico. We compare marital status, female labor force participation, main economic sectors, human capital, and income levels of the men and women of each of the three nationalities considered, seeking to identify from a gender perspective the differentiated labor performance of each nationality.