Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

International Handbook of Rural Demography pp 155–168Cite as

Rural Population Trends in Mexico: Demographic and Labor Changes

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: International Handbooks of Population ((IHOP,volume 3))

Abstract

This chapter addresses the main transformations experienced by the rural population in recent decades in Mexico. It maintains that demographic trends are closely connected to labor and distributional changes in rural communities, particularly those derived from agricultural production transformations. The chapter reviews historical population changes in terms of classic demographic variables, but it also extensively examines changes in the occupational structures of rural settings and it pays particular attention to agrarian household strategies to cope with economic uncertainties. The chapter suggests that processes such as fertility, migration, and ageing in Mexican rural contexts need to be understood within the framework of land access, agricultural and labor-market transformations in recent decades.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    5 hectares equivalent to 12.3 acres.

  2. 2.

    Agricultural subsidies are concentrated by middle and large producers, which are relevant in terms of production but not in relation to population (Scott, 2009).

  3. 3.

    The term “Mexican Economic Miracle” points to a long period of sustained economic growth, from the mid-1940s to the late 1960s. Although a trend of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was not uniform over the years, a couple of years are illustrative: 8.2% in 1944 or 10% in 1954.

  4. 4.

    The concept of new rurality often refers to any change occurring in the rural contexts under the influence of globalization, trade liberalization and structural adjustment policies. This concept includes the changes in agricultural markets, the peri-urban phenomena, the emergence of new social actors, as well as government policies. A group of Latin American researchers use this concept referring exclusively to economy and material structures that change not only by external forces but also by social movements (Pérez, Farah, & Grammont, 2008: 14).

  5. 5.

    For INEGI (2002), “Agricultural workers are all those individuals who sell their labor for engaging in farm work plus those who, within families or territorial groups are mobilized by producers without the existence of a monetary agreement between them. It also includes direct workers (day workers, farm hands and peons) and employees and operators, but also ancillary personnel.” In short, the group of agricultural workers includes workers and peons, employees and unpaid workers. Conversely, the group of producers includes a broad subgroup of agricultural subjects: owners, ejidatarios or comuneros, tenants, sharecroppers, and leaseholders (footnote no. 8 describes each of these terms in detail).

  6. 6.

    To a certain extent, this result takes us back to the bibliography that holds that agricultural activity is linked to subjective processes of identity construction (Zendejas & Vries, 1998). In other words, although these workers may not be actively producing in the countryside, landownership makes them define themselves as agrarian subjects.

  7. 7.

    Ejido holders or owners: previously communal-land owners. Currently, they own land and can sell it after the approval of the community assembly. See section “Land, Poverty, Spatial Dispersion”, first paragraph.

  8. 8.

    These agricultural subjects are defined as follows: (1) tenants: subjects that work land that has been lent or informally ceded without any reciprocal agreement; (2) Sharecroppers: Individuals that ask to work a plot of land belonging to someone else, and promise to share the result of their work on this plot with the landowner, which is usually half of what they have obtained (medieros); and (3) Leaseholders: those that declare they have access to arable land they do not own, by paying a monetary sum for the temporary usufruct of this land, without directly having to define what they will do with the result of their agricultural activity (INEGI, 2002, Glossary).

  9. 9.

    This section of the study analyzes the changes between 1995 and 2009 since the questionnaires for 1991 and 1993 are slightly different from the questionnaires from 1995 onwards. One of the differences is that agricultural producers’ pay is not known for the first two years, which is why it was decided to analyze working conditions from 1995. It is worth noting that the questions designed to record the number of agricultural workers are not different, which is why information from 1991 is used in the previous sections of this study.

  10. 10.

    It has been found that the incomes of some self-employed occupations are significantly better than salaried jobs.

  11. 11.

    Once again, it should be noted that in 1991 and 1993, producers were not asked about their income, therefore we only used information from 1995 onwards.

Abbreviations

CEED:

Center for Economic and Demographic Studies (Spanish Acronym)

CONAPO:

National Population Council (Spanish Acronym)

CONEVAL:

National Council for the Evaluation of Social Policies (Spanish Acronym)

EMIF:

National Migration Survey in the Northern Border (Spanish Acronym)

ENADID:

National Survey of Demographic Dynamic

ENE:

National Survey of Employment (Spanish Acronym)

ENEU:

National Survey of Urban Employment (Spanish Acronym)

ENOE:

National Survey of Occupation and Employment (Spanish Acronym)

GDP:

Gross Domestic Product

IMR:

Infant Mortality Rate

INAH:

National Institute of Anthropology and History (Spanish Acronym)

INEGI:

National institute of Statistics and Geography (Spanish Acronym)

STPS:

Secretary of Labor and Social Provision (Spanish Acronym)

References

  • Alba, F. (1977). La población en México, evolución y dilemas. México: El Colegio de México.

    Google Scholar 

  • Appendini, K. (2008). La transformación de la vida rural en tres ejidos del centro de México. In K. Appendini & G. Torres (Eds.), ¿ Ruralidad sin agricultura? Perspectivas multidisciplinaria de una realidad fragmentada (pp. 27–58). México: El Colegio de México.

    Google Scholar 

  • Appendini, K., & De Luca, M. (2004). Género y trabajo. Estrategias rurales en el nuevo contexto mexicano. Roma: Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Agricultura y la Alimentación (FAO).

    Google Scholar 

  • Appendini, K., & Torres, G. (Eds.). (2008). ¿Ruralidad sin agricultura? Perspectivas multidisciplinaria de una realidad fragmentada. México: El Colegio de México.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arias, P., & Wilson, F. (1997). La aguja y el surco. Cambio regional, consumo y relaciones de género en la industria de la ropa en México. Guadalajara: Universidad de Guadalajara-Centre for Development Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carton de Grammont, H. C. (2004). La nueva ruralidad en América Latina. Revista Mexicana de Sociología, Año LXVI, Núm. especial.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carton de Grammont, H. C. (2007). La desagrarización del campo mexicano. Paper presented at Congress: Encrucijadas del México Rural: contrastes regionales en un mundo desigual. Asociación Mexicana de Estudios Rurales (AMER). Veracruz, Veracruz, October 22–26, 2007.

    Google Scholar 

  • CEED. (1970). Dinámica de la Población en México. México: El Colegio de Mexico.

    Google Scholar 

  • CONAPO. (2008). Informe de México: El cambio demográfico, el envejecimiento y la migración internacional en México. Resource document. Special Report to the 32nd Session of the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA). Retrieved February 15, 2010, from http://www.conapo.gob.mx/prensa/2008/02cepal.pdf

  • Coneval. (2009). Evolución de la pobreza 1992–2008. Poverty Report by CONEVAL (Consejo Nacional de Evaluación). México: CONEVAL. Retrieved November 11, 2010, from http://www.coneval.gob.mx/

    Google Scholar 

  • Corona, R., & Tuiran, R. (2006, July). Magnitud aproximada de la emigración de mexicanos a Estados Unidos. Congreso Internacional de Migración, Alcances y límites de las políticas migratorias. Unpublished.

    Google Scholar 

  • David, M. B. de A., Morales, C., & Rodríguez, M. (2001). Modernidad y heterogeneidad: estilo de desarrollo agrícola y rural en América latina y el Caribe. In David, M. B. de A. (Ed.), Desarrollo rural en América Latina y el Caribe ¿ La construcción de un nuevo modelo? Bogotá: Alfaomega.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dirven, M. (2003). La herencia de tierras y la necesidad de rejuvenecimiento del campo. In P. Tejo (Comp.), Mercados de tierras agrícolas en América Latina y el Caribe: una realidad incompleta (pp. 127–163). Santiago de Chile: ECLA.

    Google Scholar 

  • ENADID. (2009). Encuesta Nacional de la dinámica demográfica. Resultados Preliminares. México: CONAPO-INEGI.

    Google Scholar 

  • ENE. (1995). Encuesta Nacional de Empleo. Microdata. Mexico: INEGI.

    Google Scholar 

  • ENOE. (1999). Encuesta Nacional de Ocupación y Empleo. Microdata. México: INEGI.

    Google Scholar 

  • Galindo, C., & Ramos, L. (2009). Un nuevo enfoque para estimarla migración internacional de México. In CONAPO, La situación demográfica de México 2008 (pp. 45–71). México: CONAPO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garay, S. (2008). Trabajo rural femenino en México: tendencias recientes. Dissertation to Obtain Doctorate Degree in Demographic Studies, Centro de Estudios Demográficos, Urbanos y Ambientales, El Colegio de México.

    Google Scholar 

  • García, B., Blanco, M., & Pacheco, E. (1999). Género y trabajo extradoméstico en México. In B. García (Ed.), Mujer, género y población en México. México: Sociedad Mexicana de Demografía & El Colegio de México.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hernández, J. (2004). La distribución territorial de la población rural urbanización. In CONAPO, La situación demográfica de México 2003 (pp. 63–75). México: CONAPO

    Google Scholar 

  • Huerta, M. M. C. (2001). El sector agropecuario mexicano. Antecedentes recientes y perspectivas. México: Instituto Politécnico Nacional.

    Google Scholar 

  • INEGI. (2002). Encuesta Nacional de Empleo. México: INEGI.

    Google Scholar 

  • INEGI. (2007). Resultados Definitivos del Conteo de Población y Vivienda 2005. México: INEGI.

    Google Scholar 

  • INEGI. (2009a). Censo Agrícola, Ganadero y Forestal 2007. Tabulados Estatales. México: INEGI.

    Google Scholar 

  • INEGI. (2009b). México. Compendio censal del siglo XX. CD. México: INEGI.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lara, S. (1998). Nuevas experiencias productivas y nuevas formas de organización flexible del trabajo en la agricultura mexicana. México: Juan Pablos.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leite, P., Ramos, L., & Gaspar, S. (2004). Tendencias recientes de la migración México-Estados Unidos. In CONAPO, La situación demográfica de México 2003 (pp. 97–115) México: CONAPO

    Google Scholar 

  • Marsch, R., & Runsten, D. (2000). The Organic Produce Niche Market: Can Mexican Smallholders be Stakeholders? In G. Rodriguez & R. Snyder (Eds.), Strategies for Resource Management, Production, and Marketing in Rural Mexico (pp. 71–104). La Jolla, CA: University of California-San Diego.

    Google Scholar 

  • Massey, D., Alarcon, R., Duran, J., & González, H. (1990). Return to Aztlan: The social process of international migration from Western Mexico. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Merino, L. (2004). Conservación o deterioro: el impacto de las políticas públicas en las instituciones comunitarias y en los usos de los bosques en México. México, DF: Instituto Nacional de Ecología –SEMARNAT.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pacheco, E., & Florez, N. (2009). Having More Than One Job as a Family Strategy in Mexican Rural. Paper presented at XXVI IUSSP International Population Conference, Marrakeck, Marruecos, Sep 27–Oct 2, 2009.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pacheco Gómez, E. (2004). Ciudad de México, heterogénea y desigual. Un estudio sobre el mercado de trabajo, México: El Colegio de México.

    Google Scholar 

  • Partida, V. (2004). Aspectos demográficos de la urbanización. In CONAPO, La situación demográfica de México 2003 (pp. 17–26). México: CONAPO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Passel, J. & Suro, R. (2005). Rise, peak and decline: Trends in US immigration 1992–2004. Report, Pew Hispanic Center.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pérez, E. (2001). Hacia una visión de lo rural. In ¿ Una nueva ruralidad en América Latina? Buenos Aires: CLACSO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pérez, E., Farah, M. A., & Grammont, C. de (2008). La nueva ruralidad en América Latina. Avances teóricos y evidencias empíricas. Bogotá: Editorial Pontificia Universidad Javariana/ Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales.

    Google Scholar 

  • Puyana, A., & Romero, J. (2008). El sector agropecuario mexicano: un decenio con el Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, Efectos económicos y sociales. México: El Colegio de México.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quesnel, A., & del Rey, A. (2004). La construcción de una economía familiar del archipiélago. Movilidad y recomposición de las relaciones intergeneracionales en el medio rural Mexicano. Estudios Demográficos y Urbanos, 20 (2)(59), 197–228.

    Google Scholar 

  • Romo, R., & Sánchez, M. (2010). El descenso de la fecundidad en México, 1974–2009: a 35 años de la puesta en marcha de la nueva política de población. In CONAPO, La situación demográfica de México 2009 (pp. 23–38). México: CONAPO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, J. (2009). The incidence of agricultural subsidies in Mexico. Agricultural Trade Adjustment and Rural Poverty. Transparency, Accountability, and Compensatory Programs in Mexico. Woodrow Wilson International Center, Mexican Rural Development Research Reports, Report 2. November 11, 2009

    Google Scholar 

  • SRA. (2010). Reglas de Operación de los Programas Sociales de la Secretaria de la Reforma Agraria. México: SRA. Retrieved September 3, 2010, from http://www.sra.gob.mx/sraweb/programas/

    Google Scholar 

  • Teubal, M. (2001). Globalización y nueva ruralidad en América Latina. In N. Giarraca (Ed.), ¿ Una nueva ruralidad en América Latina? Buenos Aires: CLACSO.o

    Google Scholar 

  • Valdivia, M., & Pedrero, M. (2008). Mercados laborales segmentados y el nivel de educación de la fuerza de trabajo en México: un estudio de la desigualdad salarial a partir de las encuestas urbanas de empleo. Paper presented at IX reunión Nacional de Investigación demográfica en México, Mérida, Oct. 8–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wainerman, C., & Rechinni, Z. (1981). El trabajo femenino en el banquillo de los acusados. La medición censal en América Latina. México: Terra Nova.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yúnez-Naude, A. (2005). Sectores de América del Norte: la agricultura. Paper presented at Seminar: América del Norte los siguientes diez años. El Colegio de México, January 13–14, 2005.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zendejas, S., & Vries, P. de (Eds.). (1998). Las disputas por el México rural: transformaciones de práticas, identidades y proyectos. México: El Colegio de Michoacán.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. El Colegio de México, A.C. Center for Demographic, Urban, and Environmental Studies, C.P.10740, México, D.F, México

    Landy Sanchez & Edith Pacheco

Authors
  1. Landy Sanchez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Edith Pacheco
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Landy Sanchez .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Sociology , Anthropology and Social Work, Kansas State University, Waters Hall 202D, Manhattan, 66506, Kansas, USA

    László J. Kulcsár

  2. , Community and Environmental Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Linden Drive 1450, Madison, 53706, Wisconsin, USA

    Katherine J. Curtis

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Sanchez, L., Pacheco, E. (2012). Rural Population Trends in Mexico: Demographic and Labor Changes. In: Kulcsár, L., Curtis, K. (eds) International Handbook of Rural Demography. International Handbooks of Population, vol 3. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1842-5_12

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation