Politics · Mexico · 5 hrs ago
Mexico’s care services and parental leave leave many people uncovered
A report by the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and the International Labour Organization says many people in Mexico lack effective access to care rights.
Mexico has no mandatory maternity leave coverage for self-employed workers, who made up 29% of employed women in 2023.
The country also provides less than the 14 weeks of maternity leave set as a minimum by an International Labour Organization convention.
Care services reach very few children under three: their net enrolment rate was 2.2% in 2021, compared with 62.2% for children aged three to five.
Access also depends on factors such as how close centres are, their opening hours and what families can afford.
Women carried a much larger share of unpaid care work, spending 24.2% of their time on domestic and care work in 2019, compared with 8.8% for men.
The report says wider care services and more formal jobs could support women’s participation in paid work, and recommends extending paternity leave and covering self-employed workers.
Mexico’s maternity leave and early-childhood care services do not reach everyone who needs them, according to a report by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and the International Labour Organization.
Mexico has no mandatory maternity-leave coverage for self-employed workers, who made up 29% of employed women in 2023.
Net enrolment in care and education services was 2.2% for children aged zero to two, compared with 62.2% in pre-primary education for children aged three to five.
Women in Mexico spent 24.2% of their time on unpaid domestic and care work in 2019, compared with 8.8% for men.
The report says informality and limited access to care services restrict people’s ability to use recognised labour and care rights.
- Who
- Women, self-employed workers, families and people who need or provide care in Mexico.
- What
- Care services and parental leave do not provide universal coverage.
- When
- The article was published on October 31, 2026; the figures cited include data from 2019, 2021 and 2023.
- Where
- Mexico.
- Why
- High informality, gaps in leave coverage and limited early-childhood services restrict access to care and labour rights.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Women in Mexico spent 24.2% of their time on unpaid domestic and care work, compared with 8.8% for men.
Net enrolment in care and education services for children aged zero to two was 2.2%.
Self-employed workers represented 29% of employed women, and Mexico had no mandatory maternity-leave coverage for them.
- Maternity leave
- Mexico is among 18 Latin American and Caribbean countries with leave shorter than the 14-week minimum in ILO Convention No. 183.
- Self-employed women
- 29% of employed women in 2023.
- Children aged zero to two
- Net enrolment rate of 2.2% in 2021.
- Children aged three to five
- Pre-primary net enrolment rate of 62.2%.
- Unpaid care work
- Women: 24.2% of time; men: 8.8% in 2019.