International migration to seek work and remit money home is an increasingly common family strategy to overcome financial hardship. However, little is understood about family involvement in the decision to leave or how family circumstances influence migration. This qualitative study analyzed narratives of 17 agricultural workers in Minnesota and 17 of their family members in Mexico to describe their migration experiences. Results show how goals, remittances, and families shape or are shaped by the migration experience. We identified three family situations that influenced immigrants’ goals, remittance use, and their length of stay. “Target earners” (n=5) left their spouses and children in Mexico. They earned money in Minnesota and remitted as much as possible to improve their lives in Mexico. “Settlers” (n=10) lived with spouses and children in Minnesota. Their earnings were spent primarily on basic living expenses; little was left to remit more than occasionally or invest in longer-term goals. Over time, U.S. settlement emerged as a goal for this group of immigrants. “Singles” (n=2) who were not married, primarily supported parents in Mexico. They were unsure of their future goals. The decision by families to use international migration to achieve goals and improve their lives results in economic activities and social relationships that span two countries. As globalization increases this phenomenon, it is important to expand our understanding of the realities of these complex family systems.

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A consideration of paid domestic work as an aspect of the informal economy in Mexico identifies some distinctive features: a paternalistic view rather than a labor relation based on a contract, a reluctance on the part of the state to regulate this employment area, and a devaluation of this work as something largely performed by women who are poor and of rural or indigenous origin. The lack of social security is almost universal among paid domestic workers, and coverage is one of the principal demands of organizations formed in defense of their rights. Un análisis del trabajo doméstico remunerado como un aspecto de la economía informal en México muestra algunos rasgos distintivos: una visión paternalista por encima de una relación laboral basada en un contrato, una renuencia por parte del Estado a regular esta ocupación laboral, y una devaluación de dicho trabajo como algo que realizan en gran parte las mujeres pobres y de origen rural o indígena. La falta de un seguro social es casi universal entre los trabajadores domésticos remunerados, y su otorgamiento constituye una de las principales exigencias por parte de las organizaciones en defensa de los derechos de dichos empleados.

Informal workers in Mexico, the majority of the country's workforce, have organised to demand rights, but with varying results. In this article, we contrast recent organising by Mexico's domestic workers and informal construction workers. Household worker movements have succeeded in institutionalising significant new organisations and raising public awareness. Construction workers, despite earlier militant counterexamples, have remained trapped by corporatist structures, and their organising capacity has atrophied. We place these outcomes in the context of the overall decline of labour, suggesting conclusions for the limits and possibilities of contemporary Mexican labour mobilisation.

The growing recognition that informal workers can organize successfully has generated debate over the determinants of effectiveness in such organizing. We contribute to this discussion by examining the cases of domestic and construction worker organizations in Mexico, using a power resources framework. Profiling these movements, the key obstacles they face, and their achievements, we undertake a threefold comparison. Within Mexico, we compare organizing both across the two sectors and over time. Additionally, we cross-nationally compare Mexican organizing in these sectors with U.S. comparators. We explain the disparate outcomes through changes in institutional opportunities and access to societal power (allies).