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| Children make up one-third of Mexico's population, approximately two-fifths of which lives in poverty (40 million people out of a total of 96 million). Mexico's poor children face a variety of social problems: 3.5 million of them must work full time for a living; 45 percent quit school after the sixth grade; 170,000 Mexican children are homeless --15,000 in Mexico City alone. (In the cities, crack use and glue-sniffing are epidemic among such children.) Over the past three years, more than 135,000 children have disappeared in Mexico. Authorities fear that most of these "stolen children" end up in prostitution or pornography rings. Fewer than 10 percent of them are ever found. |
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| Gross National Income Rank (of 207, 1999) |
72nd |
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| GNI per Capita (USD, 1999) |
$4,440 |
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| Percentage of Pop. Under 14 Years (2000, est.) |
33% |
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| Life Expectancy at Birth (in years, 1999) |
72 |
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| Infant Mortality (per 1,000 live births, 1999) |
29 |
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| Child Malnutrition (% underweight, 1999) |
8% |
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| Access to Improved Water (% pop., 1999) |
86% |
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| Health Spending (% of GDP, 1997) |
4.7% |
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| Ratio, Doctors to People (1996) |
1:627 |
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Primary School Enrollment
(average for region, 1998) |
94% |
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| Female Net School Enrollment (1997) |
No data |
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| Education Spending (% of GDP, 1996) |
4.9% |
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| Compulsory Education |
6 yrs |
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| Literacy Rate (2000, est.) |
Men, 93% Women, 89% |
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Data Sources: World Bank Atlas 2001, Facts on File
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