Editing Maquiladora (section)

=== Women enter the labor force and face inequality through different means ===
Women entered the labor force in Mexico in large numbers in the latter half of the 20th century. Devaluations of the peso in 1982 and 1994 pushed many Mexican women into the labor force. Between 1970 and 1995, 18% more women were part of the working force,<ref name=":02">{{cite book|title=Women and Globalization|last=Aguilar, Delia D.|first=Lacsamana, Anne E.|publisher=Humanity Books|year=2004|isbn=978-1591021629|location=New York}}</ref> and many of these women were working in maquila factories. Women looked for work in factories because they could get jobs with few credentials and receive on the job training.<ref name=":02"/> Men working in maquilas were given positions of supervision, management, engineers, and technical jobs, while women were relegated to low-skill jobs.<ref name=":02"/><ref name=":4" /> Young women tended to be hired more often than older women, but it depended on the circumstances of the job and type of factory. However, young single women often ended up in factories with better working conditions, like the electronics plants, while older women and mothers worked in more dangerous apparel factories.<ref name=":02"/>

Gender plays a key role in both disguising and preserving economic frustration in the city of Juárez, Mexico. Given that several women are brutally murdered in Mexico, with Juárez as one of the main city targets, it is essential to look into the orientations of male authority, cheap labor exploitation, and the maquiladoras export processing zone. Oftentimes, young women are murdered as a result of economic frustration, being directed at the maquiladora workers. Working women are viewed by the maquiladora system as "cheap labor" and easily replaceable, which makes it easy and acceptable to kill these women without consequences. In order to examine the relationship between gender and production, gender and violence, this article focuses on situating the killings of these women within their social and ideological contexts. In this piece, the reasons for these women's treatment and the social justifications for it are examined.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Livingston |first=Jessica |date=2004 |title=Murder in Juárez Gender, Sexual Violence, and the Global Assembly Line |url= |journal= Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies|volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=59–76 |doi=10.1353/fro.2004.0034 |jstor=3347254|s2cid=144659311 }}</ref>

Poverty is a key factor that motivates women to work in maquiladoras. The minimum wage set by the Mexican government is barely enough to help sustain a family even with both parents working. The minimum wage "buys only about a quarter of the basic necessities that are essential for a typical worker's family".<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kopinak|first=Kathryn|year=1995|title=Gender as a Vehicle for the Subordination of Women Maquiladora Workers in Mexico|journal=Latin American Perspectives|volume=22|page=36|doi=10.1177/0094582x9502200103|s2cid=144173129}}</ref>  Maquilas pay at much higher rate than the minimum wage in most markets since there is a lot of competition for the best workers, and workers will not work without transportation and other bonuses. The 2015 minimum wage was 70.1 pesos per day in Tijuana (minimum wages vary by zone and worker classification) or about $0.55 per hour at the 2016 exchange rate of 16 pesos per dollar,<ref>[http://zetatijuana.com/noticias/generalez/15239/salarios-minimos-2015. Minimum wage], ''[[Zeta (magazine)|Zeta]]'', December 31, 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2016.</ref> while most entry-level positions in maquilas paid closer to $2 per hour including bonuses and 25% being paid to Social Security, housing, and retirement. Even in maquila factories, wages are still very low and in many families the children are encouraged to start working at an early age to support the family.<ref name=":02"/> In some maquiladoras, workers are cut and their responsibilities are given to a single worker. These workers are not given a higher pay, and are expected to maintain their output without a decrease in quality. They often work involuntary overtimes and are often not paid for their extra labor.<ref name=":02"/>