The national minimum wage should be increased by 8% in 2022, the Mexican Employers’ Federation (Coparmex) urged this week.
Coparmex proposed bumping minimum daily pay to 172.87 pesos (US $8.06), up from the current 141.70 pesos ($6.60).
The business group suggests reaching 228.75 pesos ($10.65) per day in 2024 through gradual increases, at which point two earners in a family of four could bring the family above an established standard for well-being.
More than 14 million Mexicans — 24.9% of the workforce — earned the minimum wage in October, according to figures from the National Statistics Institute (INEGI).
Coparmex claimed that if the 2024 target is reached, two people working in a family could “meet their food needs, but also cover essential needs for transportation, personal care, education, clothing and recreation.”
It added that the increases would have to be adjusted and kept in line with any rises in inflation.
The National Minimum Wage Commission is required to announce an increase to the daily minimum wage by December 31, which will take effect January 1. The minimum wage, one of the lowest in the Americas, was raised 15% from 123.2 pesos at the start of this year.
In the United States, the lowest legal pay is $7.25 per hour, more than the daily rate in Mexico. President López Obrador has complained that the minimum wages of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador are higher than that of Mexico.
An anti-poverty organization that has been critical of the federal government’s efforts to combat poverty said earlier in November that the minimum wage should be increased by 30% in 2022.
With reports from El Universal and Vanguardia
