“It was a tremendous shock. It was very difficult for me because – like everyone else – we started to organize ourselves and see what (expenses) we could cut… see how much money we had,” says Liliana Saldaña, 49.
In April 2020, barely a month after the start of the COVID-19 health crisis, the woman lost her job. Overnight she ran out of the income with which she paid for the expenses of the house and the needs of her three children. She lost all of her benefits and was left without the health insurance to protect not only her, but her youngest son and her husband. Fourteen months have passed and Liliana has not found a job.
He worked at a private school in León, Guanajuato, where he has lived for 17 years. Since 2015 I was in charge of the communication department of the educational institution that serves from preschool to high school so not only did the marketing campaigns, but I had as a responsibility to carry out the internal communication, with the parents and students.
“As soon as the pandemic hit, we were sent home to work… there I was until the time came when they started to cut staff (…) what the institution says is that parents, because of this part of the pandemic, stopped paying tuition because their children were no longer attending school, “says Liliana.
“We were a lot of administrative staff and they decided to cut departments, remove some of the staff and well, unfortunately it was my turn, I was one of the chosen ones.”
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The health crisis has impacted employment at all levels, as over the months there has been a loss of jobs, however, the biggest blow has been faced by women.
According to the National Survey of Occupation and Employment (ENOE) of INEGI, in March 2020 – when the health crisis began in Mexico – the unemployment rate of women stood at 3%, that is, some 688 thousand women did not have a job.
Fifteen months later, for June 2021, INEGI reports an unemployment rate of 3.9%, -some 873,184 women-, that is, just over 185 thousand women joined the unemployed population of the country and to date have not managed to find a job.
And although this is a lower figure when compared to that recorded, for example, in July 2020 when the unemployment rate among women reached 6.34%, the truth is that they have not managed to return to the labor field, which has forced them to look for all kinds of options – mostly in the informal sector – to bring sustenance to their homes.
Sale of food and clothing
Liliana says that, although she was the one who contributed most of the resources, at the time of becoming unemployed she knew that her husband could continue to support at home and that with it they would get ahead, however, in June 2020 her partner – who worked as a coach – also lost her job.
“My husband, in this same sense, but in June, lost his job. So the pillars of the house we ran out of income. It’s been quite, quite difficult and it’s still because we’re still struggling to get ahead,” explains the business administration graduate.
“What I started doing so that I could continue to receive some income was to start cooking and selling food, first among friends and then in Facebook posts. Using all the media and social networks we started selling everything from food to what was given, if I had the opportunity to buy cushions that were started to be used, I sold them, also clothes or whatever I found”.
At home they began to cut their expenses to the maximum, so at the time of making the pantry only the most necessary was acquired. Gone are the days when they gave themselves “a gustito” and bought some snacks or cravings that they wanted to satisfy.
She also had to get her daughter out of the private school where she was studying. With her and her husband unemployed it was impossible to continue to pay for tuition fees.
“I was looking for a place in a public school, because the truth was the picture was terrible, and I did not succeed, there was no place because I believe that, as well as I, many families did that. I couldn’t get a place in a public school for my daughter and I knew that would also be the cost I would have to face (of becoming unemployed),” she says.
From the moment she became unemployed in her home, she has not bought any new clothes or shoes, because she says that in the face of the uncertainty of what may happen, they keep every weight they can have.
Look for an opportunity
Liliana says that since she became unemployed she has not stopped looking for one, but none of the emails he has sent with his resume, nor any of the interviews he has had has resulted in good news.
“I have not removed my finger from the line, I have been applying for the vacancies that my friends send me -because they see that it is something in which I can accommodate-, I apply, I send my curriculum, I have gone to some interviews, but unfortunately I have not run with luck and it is basically -that it is incredible that we are living that- because of the age”, she claims.
“They already require very young people, I understand that they have to give them the opportunity, but we who are not so young anymore, because we also still need to work.”
Read more: They have a job, but pay doesn’t reach: pandemic increases working poverty for Mexicans
At 49 years old, Liliana has opted to continue selling food, cushions and clothes.
She says that in recent months she and her husband have dabbled in selling paper napkins, and although it has been difficult, in recent months they have started to have an inflow of money.
Her daughter, not finding a place in a public school and with the need to continue her studies, entered a private school in which Liliana pays half the tuition fee than what she was charged in the old school, so, she stresses, although she has not found a job like the one she had, she will continue to fight to bring sustenance to her family and pay for her children’s education.
“We women have gained a lot of ground, but we have to keep fighting and raising our voices (…) it’s hard to understand why (they put us out of a job) if we do a good job, plus that we earn less is still a reality,” he laments.
Remember that among the people who fired from the school where she worked most were women, even the director of the space also lost her job. And although it might be an unimportant detail, he says that now that square is occupied by a man.
“I hope that by the time my daughters are older this will have already changed. Hopefully we will achieve equality because I think it is incredible that in the middle of 2021 we will continue to live it.
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