As a result, peasants must leave their homes to find work in the cities or the United States. The lack of decent housing is one of the biggest problems in Mexico. Even the government recognizes that at least 4.5 million people in the country are homeless. This number does not include the millions who live in subhuman conditions, packed into cardboard or wooden shacks with no access to services such as water, electricity and sewage. Some 6 million unemployed workers, the closing of hundreds of business, inhuman working conditions, exploitation and lack of workers' rights are another reality in Mexico.
Unemployment grows worse every day.
The budget for this area continues to shirink. Meanwhile thousands in the country and the cities die each year of curable diseases. Low wages, for those who have jobs, make it impossible for millions of people to receive nutritious and sufficient meals. Malnutrition and hunger are the humiliating trophy of neoliberalism. Children who have no choice but to work abandon their schooling in order to labor in the streets selling gum, candy, shining shoes, or dressing as clowns.