Millennials played a key role in the reactivation of the Mexican economy in late 2020 as pandemic restrictions were relaxed, according to a study by BBVA Research.
The population segment counted for almost one third of the working population from August 21-November 28, the period in which infection rates had begun to drop.
The economy had been widely forecast to suffer a deep recession in the second half of 2020, which was largely avoided by the flow of remittance payments from the United States and workers returning to their duties, including about 20 million people in the millennial age category.
There is no absolute consensus on the dividing line between millennials and its preceding, older population group Generation X. For the purposes of the study, BBVA defined millennials as people 25-39 years old in 2020, having been born between 1981 and 1995, while Generation X covered people between 40 and 54 years, born between 1966 and 1980.
The personal income earned by millennials attested to their value to the workforce. On average, they earned 7,251 pesos (about US $364) per month, while Generation X workers averaged just 12.3% more.
The data showed that the labor market valued millennial workers with professional or postgraduate training, but barely distinguished those with bachelor’s degrees from their peers with only primary or secondary education.
The study also revealed the difference in salaries between millennial men and women. In Yucatán men earned 72.4% more than their female peers. In Durango, Baja California, Tamaulipas, Aguascalientes, Michoacán, Chihuahua and Nuevo León, the income gap was over 30%. The state of México, Veracruz, Oaxaca and Quintana Roo were those with the lowest differentials.
There were also marked differences in earnings depending on where millennials lived. For example, the average salary of a millennial employed in Nuevo León was 11,100 pesos a month (about $557), while in Chiapas it was 4,458 pesos (about $224).
The BBVA study was based on the Survey of National Household Income and Expenditure by federal statistics institute Inegi published on July 28. The data was collected from August 21-November 28, 2020.
Mexico News Daily
