Economic Crisis, Domestic Reorganisation and Women's Work in Guadalajara, Mexico

Mexico is currently undergoing a profound economic crisis characterised by a very high rate of inflation (more than 150 per cent in 1987) and a general shrinkage of the economy (virtual absence of investment, increased un? employment and so on). One of the major problems for the vast majority of the population is that salaries have not increased at the same pace as prices: while the inflationary process was slow during the first half of the 1970s (1971,5.3 per cent; 1972,5.0 per cent), the rate accelerated towards the end ofthe decade (1977, 28.9 per cent) and in the early 1980s (1982, 98.8 per cent) (Iriarte, 1986: 72). According to figures offered by the CDESTAC (Centro de Documentacion y Estudios Sindicales y del Trabajo, A.C.) the real minimum wage, or the purchasing power of the minimum wage, has decreased by 34 per cent between 1976 and 1985 (CDESTAC 1986: 36). Other less conservative figures suggest a general loss of 50 per cent in the purchasing power of the minimum wage from 1976 to 1986 (Jusidman, 1987). Some scholars talk about a political crisis which goes hand in hand with economic instability in Mexico (Cornelius, 1986), but it is undoubtedly the economic crisis which most affects, in a direct way, the population's welfare.