The Necessary Work-life Balance

In Mexico, achieving an adequate work-life balance is a constant challenge for many workers, including authorities. These often recognize the existence of long hours, without flexibility, and with salary conditions that hinder reconciliation.

What Does Work-life Balance Mean?587

Work-life balance refers to the harmony between work responsibilities and personal activities. A sustainable family requires:

• Income
• Space
• Time
• Affection

This implies finding family time outside of work and feeling satisfied both in the work and personal spheres.

For years, the OECD has reported a highly precarious balance for life and work in Mexico and Colombia, which scored 0.4 and 0.6 out of ten. And it is no coincidence, but rather causality, that they are the two countries highlighted by the OECD in 2023 as those, among the 17 analyzed, where “you work more than you earn.” Thus, one and the other account for two thousand 297 and two thousand 226 annual hours worked with payments of 28 thousand 265 and 20 thousand 249 dollars, double the hours worked for a quarter of the salary.

This imbalance affects the physical and mental health of workers, reduces productivity, and can generate work stress.

---

The “Self-Reported Well-being Module (BIARE)” of INEGI directly measured the “work-life balance” by state in Mexico, through data on “satisfaction with life” and different areas of it, including activity or occupation, which could be useful for analyzing this concept.

Among the 32 states, it is observed that eight entities obtain the lowest averages: Campeche, Guerrero, Aguascalientes, Veracruz, Morelos, Michoacán, Puebla, and Oaxaca.

These are entities with labor poverty and in some cases —such as Aguascalientes— for standing out in terms of long working hours exceeding 48 hours per week. To the above, the cost of a “decent life” which in the Aguascalientes entity is one of the most expensive, must be considered.

Average Monthly Income to Cover Basic Expenses in Mexico2350

According to the “National Survey on Financial Health (ENSAFI) 2024”, the average monthly income needed to cover basic expenses in Mexico is 16,421 pesos. However, this figure varies significantly by region. For example, in Mexico City an average of 29,500 pesos is required, while in Chiapas it is estimated that with seven thousand pesos one can live decently.

Thus, the number of income earners per household to face the cost of living varies according to these data. In Mexico City, practically three income earners per household are required to reach its high cost of living, followed by Aguascalientes where 2.33 are needed to reach the 21 thousand pesos of the cost (one more than in Zacatecas).

** **

In Aguascalientes, dad, mom and someone else, who may be a minor or a senior, contributing scholarships, pensions or product of some occupations, have to work to cover the cost of a decent life, which must be, as Victoria Camps says, speaking of the dignity of people, a “life worthy of being lived.”