Thread: Latino Youth-Work or Remittances?

Juan Carlos Liorca, Associated Press Writer, states that many young people in Guatemala prefer to not work at a trade or craft, or even go to school, but would rather live off remittances from relatives who have found jobs in the Unites States.

Some figures from his article:
1. 48,000 Guatemalans left the country in 2005-6, almost all to the US.
2.In one year US remittances were $3.6 billion, about ten percent of the national economy
3. Industrial output is $6.7 billion---because fewer people will work in the local industries

Liorca quotes 14 year old Nery Rodas, " I don't want to study. It's boring. I'm just waiting for my dad to fix my papers so I can go to the US to work."

How well do such slackers represent the Guatemalan populace? As long as remittances represent a substantial influx into the economy the trend will grow, although the remittances do present an incentive for local employers to pay more.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/05 ... _29_07.txt

They teach 'em young to be lazy.

A lot of these illegals who come in do not believe in education, so they'll never get ahead, even in a few generations, IF we let them stay here, that is. They'd rather take the bennies and party.

They just do not place the same value on education as we do, and that does NOT fit in our culture. All we need is a bunch of uneducated slackers.