In Nicaragua, maquilas have become the main source of income over the years. Until 2019, the country had 52 industrial parks and 226 companies but due to the social situation and the Covid-19 pandemic, massive layoffs took place and many companies closed their doors without paying compensation to their workers.

Since 2020, hundreds of young people have emigrated to other countries (Costa Rica, Mexico, USA, Spain, El Salvador). With the loss of investors in the country, the job shortage further impoverished households directly dependent on those large global supply chains, as many of these young people lacked the professional education that would have enabled them to find other formal work options.

Access to employment is one of the most fundamental rights, a guarantee of dignity and an essential means of subsistence for every human being. However, in a post-conflict country marked by poverty and low school enrolment, access to this essential right remains a distant goal. The Guatemalan labor market is almost entirely dependent on the informal economy, and the few formal jobs available are under constant threat from labor flexibility. Non-compliance with labor legislation, the weakness of labor-related institutions and the partisan politicization of access to employment exacerbate the job crisis. These problems are at the root of phenomena such as rampant crime and mass migration.

In the city of Volta Redonda, south of Rio de Janeiro, living conditions are precarious, leisure and cultural facilities are lacking, and illicit trafficking and violence are frequent. In most families, the mother is the head of household. Most young people study in precarious public schools and also seek to supplement the income of the family network. Young people are the children of workers, mostly in the informal sector.