Population Challenges

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A chart comparing legal and unauthorized emigration from Mexico From 1980-2004

Mexico has a very high dependency load (roughly 35%), which means that 65% of the population has to care for the other 35%. This dependency load is made up of mostly children under 14, as Mexico has a very small number of elders. This is most likely because Mexico has inadequate resources to care for an aging population.

In the age bracket 25-55, there are many more women than men. This could possibly because many men are leaving Mexico to seek employment abroad, mostly in the United States. This is more evident due to the fact that in Mexico, the percentage of females who are economically active is only 38%, compared to the percentage of economically active males, which is 81% (PRB). This could mean that the widespread belief in Mexico is that the woman's place is in the home, while the man must go out and earn money.  This could also be responsible for Mexico's high emigration rate, which is -5%. (PRB)

In Mexico there is a lack of adequate living quarters for the rapidly growing urban population. Currently, Mexico has roughly 43.4 million people living in urban areas. However, a large number of these people, about 18%, live in slums. (PRB)
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Population Pyramid of Mexico for 2010 (US Census Bureau)
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Population Pyramid of Mexico for 2050(US Census Bureau)
As we can see in these two population pyramids, one with the current stats for mexico, and one with the projected stats in 2050, there is a huge predicted change. It's almost as if the pyramid from 2010 rose up while being narrowed at the top. The age bracket from 20-55 increases dramatically. This most likely means that fertility rates will remain the same, while healthcare will improve dramatically. However, senior care will not have gotten much better, as the population from 65 over decreases dramatically. As well, the trend mentioned above of there being less men in the 20-65 age bracket is still visible in the chart on the right. This is likely for the same aformentioned reasons.