CARING FOR MEXICAN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS
IS A MUST
For children in Mexico, it is especially challenging. Mexican children suffer by impact of increased violence and drug trafficking, in addition to political, economic, and social concerns, driving many of their parents to cross the U.S. border in search of a better, safer life. Those remaining have unanswered and unfulfilled health concerns. One in four Mexicans lack any access to health care which adversely impacts children ages 1-21 who in many cases don’t have any access to health care. According to the Mexican Health Foundation (Fundación Mexicana para la Salud, FUNSALUD) and the Mexican Ministry of Health, every year between 2 million and 4 million Mexican households—most of them poor and uninsured—suffer from catastrophic and impoverishing health expenditures leading to non-treatment of childhood illness.
Even though child marriage was banned in Mexico in 2014, the number of child marriages in Mexico have risen exponentially. According to the U.N. Women data, 25 percent of Mexican women ages 50 to 54 say they married as children, while 21 percent of women 20 to 24 report the same — a small change over more than a generation. According to U.N. Women, based on statistics from Mexico's INEGI agency, there are 6.8 million women in Mexico who married before turning 18. And, the data show, a fifth of Mexican women marry underage. According to the Mexican National Council of Population (CONAPO), 72% of this age group works out of the home contributing child neglect making for a high concentration of dysfunctional families. According to the U.N. Women report, bearing children before the age of 18 makes young women more likely to be poor, have a lower education, have fewer job opportunities, be victims of domestic violence and have a higher likelihood that their children will not have the same access to health care. Even more problematic, an estimated 3 out of 4 women ages 13-18 in rural areas are single mothers, bearing up to four children from different fathers which impacts the prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) complicating a child’s ability to cope and lead a productive life. Why should you care about this? The United States and Canada are mostly dependent on the Mexican workforce especially in manufacturing!
You can get involved by Supporting our Campaigns or Serving with Us or just by donating. There are seven (7) ways for you to get involved.
Even though child marriage was banned in Mexico in 2014, the number of child marriages in Mexico have risen exponentially. According to the U.N. Women data, 25 percent of Mexican women ages 50 to 54 say they married as children, while 21 percent of women 20 to 24 report the same — a small change over more than a generation. According to U.N. Women, based on statistics from Mexico's INEGI agency, there are 6.8 million women in Mexico who married before turning 18. And, the data show, a fifth of Mexican women marry underage. According to the Mexican National Council of Population (CONAPO), 72% of this age group works out of the home contributing child neglect making for a high concentration of dysfunctional families. According to the U.N. Women report, bearing children before the age of 18 makes young women more likely to be poor, have a lower education, have fewer job opportunities, be victims of domestic violence and have a higher likelihood that their children will not have the same access to health care. Even more problematic, an estimated 3 out of 4 women ages 13-18 in rural areas are single mothers, bearing up to four children from different fathers which impacts the prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) complicating a child’s ability to cope and lead a productive life. Why should you care about this? The United States and Canada are mostly dependent on the Mexican workforce especially in manufacturing!
You can get involved by Supporting our Campaigns or Serving with Us or just by donating. There are seven (7) ways for you to get involved.