Mexico's 2025 survey reveals 3.5 million children in work, half in hazardous jobs

Mexico's 2025 National Survey of Child Labor (ENTI) indicates that 3.5 million children and adolescents, or 12.6% of those aged five to 17, are engaged in work, many in conditions that threaten their health. The survey counts both unpaid domestic tasks that interfere with schooling and paid jobs that are illegal for their age, identifying 1.7 million doing excessive household chores and 1.6 million in prohibited employment, of which more than one million perform hazardous duties in sectors like agriculture, mining, construction and commerce.

Boys represent six out of ten cases, and rates are especially high among Indigenous children (25%) and those of African descent (15.6%). The highest regional concentration is in Guerrero, with Chiapas and Oaxaca also severely affected. Experts from INEGI linked child labor to persistent poverty, recent droughts, rising food prices and other economic shocks that force families to rely on children's earnings. The overall figure has barely changed since 2015, underscoring entrenched social inequality.