Chiclet Children

These are young children selling chiclets on the beach. If this is your first time to Mexico you would probably feel sorry for these children because they are poor and of course you are going to give these children the equivalent to $1.00 to $5.00 for a chiclet when in fact this is a very successful business. It took me a few trips to Mexico before I figured this out. Usually you will see the Mother or relative in the near distance coaching the child on and in a couple of hours the child has solicited at least 100 hotel guests at minimum $1.oo each. That is $1.00 x 100 guests = $100.00 in 2 hours. That is $50.00/hour. That's not a bad wage in a country where the average wage maybe $10.00/day. After buying chiclets of these children a few times and asking a few questions you find out that they are licensed by the hotel and by the city, they have their own business license and employee Identification Cards with employee number. They pay a commission to the hotel and to the city. This is an income for the hotel so they are allowed on the hotel beach. Other pedlars are not. Click pictures for larger image.