The effect of natural disasters upon household’s labor participation in Mexico, 2002-2005

Mexico is particularly vulnerable to the impact of natural phenomenons and, consequently, to negative effects on household’s well-being. The impact of a phenomenon of considerable dimensions alters the population’s environmental, social, and economic conditions, which are translated in the loss of livelihood, personal assets, and even human lives. In this research project we ask ourselves about the households affected by natural disaster’s sociodemographic profile in Mexico and if they adjust their labor participation as a strategy that faces the damages caused by natural phenomenon. Using longitudinal data from the Mexican Family Life Survey, a panel was built in order to analyze how did the Mexican’s household’s labor participation changed between 2002 and 2005 upon the occurrence of natural disasters in 2003 and 2004. The article suggests that the household’s victims of a catastrophic event had certain sociodemographic features that made them especially vulnerable. The results of a multinomial logistic regression model show that natural disasters have differentiated effects upon the labor participation that depend on the magnitude of the disaster and the characteristics of the household.