Institute for Regional Studies of the Californias
Institute for Regional Studies of the Californias| Tijuana, Basic Information Page 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Employment and Personal Income
In 1995, the number of economically active persons in the Municipality of Tijuana was 322,359. Of these 202,726, or 63 percent, were part of the social security system. Currently, some 18.5 percent of the economically active persons are in the informal sector and another 45.5 percent are involved in semi-formal economic activities. Many of the latter category are in the social security system. The high level of informal and semi-formal economic activity is related to low salaries. Through the expansion of the maquiladora industry and the tourism sector, Tijuana has addressed to problem of job creation adequately. However, it has not been able to address the problem of low real wages. A key indicator in Mexico is the distribution of income. In Mexico since the 1940s, real wages have tended to remain about the same, despite significant economic growth from 1940 to the late 1970s and a renewal of growth from 1990-1994. This extreme concentration of income, one of the worst in the world, means that the vast majority of Mexicans have little disposable income for consumption. Therefore, one must exercise caution when making assumptions about ability to market goods and services in Tijuana or in Mexico. In 1990, in Baja California, 1.3 percent of the work force did not receive pay, 8.1 percent received less than minimum wages, 30.5 percent |
received 1 or 2 minimum wages, 25.0 percent made more than two and less than 3 wages, 16.4 percent received from 3 to 5, and only 13.9 percent of the workers received more than 5 salaries. Prior to the devaluation of late 1994 and early 1995, the minimum wage in Tijuana was approximately US $100 per month. Five salaries is barely enough for a family to get by and these individuals represent little in the way of a potential market for U.S. exports. An important component of employment in Tijuana is that of commuter workers, individuals who reside in Tijuana and travel across the border to work in San Diego and elsewhere in the region. Commuter workers comprise some 8 to 10 percent of the economically active population in Tijuana and generate a disproportionate share of the personal income of Tijuana due to higher real wages in the United States. It is estimated that there are from 30,000 to 40,000 commuter workers in Tijuana. These commuter workers raise the per capita income figures for Tijuana and most would be classified as middle class (5 minimum salaries or more). Also, it is likely that they account for an important part of Mexican retail purchases in Dan Diego. There is also a growing number of workers who live in California and commute to Tijuana to work. This category includes maquiladora managers and administrative personnel, consultants, academics, and business people. Commentators often make the claim that Tijuana's unemployment is lower than that of San Diego. They cite, for example, Mexican government figures for May 1996 listing Tijuana's unemployment as 0.9 percent and U.S. figures for San Diego at the same time as 5.2 percent. However, Mexican and U.S. unemployment figures are generated in very different ways. Unemployment in Tijuana is more likely to be above 10 percent, while the figure for Mexico is above 20 percent. The problem of low income levels is compounded by deficiencies in social |
services available to the population of Tijuana. This is to be seen, for example, in low education levels and in the health indicators of the population. One motive for residents of Tijuana to cross the border and illegally access health services in San Diego is lack of access to these services in Tijuana. Maquiladora Industry Late in 1998, there were approximately 675 maquiladoras in Tijuana with a work force of about 151,363 persons.
The maquiladora sector is an important part of the local economy and accounted for about 48 percent of all job creation in Tijuana from 1980-1990. During 1990, the Tijuana-based maquilas accounted for as much as $500 million in foreign exchange earnings. With the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on January 1, 1994, new investment in Tijuana's maquiladora industry increased as Japanese and Korean companies began to establish local companies to produce inputs for existing maquilas since NAFTA | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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