Mexico has a stunning 7.8 million young people who neither work
nor study, according to a new government study. The so called
“ni nis” or “neither nors” are believed to be a major cause of
instability in Mexico, with the unemployed youth providing an
army of potential recruits for drug cartels. The survey, which
was funded by the education department, found that in Mexico
there are a total of 36.2 million young people between the ages
of 12 and 29. A total of 20 percent of these young people fall
into the “ni ni” category. Three quarters of the “ni nis” are
women and girls, the survey found. “Ni nis” have gained national
attention in Mexico in recent years with unemployed youth
becoming a feature of major urban areas, particularly the slums
around the capital and border cities such as Ciudad Juarez. Many
young people arrested for being in the drug gangs or killed in
the drug war were found to have dropped out of education early
and had no history of formal employment. About 70 percent of the
“ni nis” had not