The engine in the home: left out of the formal economy, maids form integral part of life in Mexico.

She hears the little spats we sometimes have with our spouses in the morning. She picks up after us and keeps things in order. And she also knows that we prefer green sauce over red and toast over tortillas.

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She is the maid, an anonymous, almost invisible figure who might not talk much but is an indispensible part of Mexican life. The nation's nearly 2 million maids are the keys to the day-to-day survival for many families. And they are so critical to the Mexican economy that if their jobs were to be documented and taxed, the nation's Gross Domestic Product would jump an estimated 12%, according to the National Women's Institute of Mexico.

Most come from farming families and drop out of school to help support their families. They move to the city and take jobs making far less than minimum wage. Nearly 30% are illiterate, over half have only an elementary school education and many more suffer daily physical and mental abuse from their employers, according to federal government statistics.

Their jobs are usually off the books, so in an estimated 80% of the cases, employers don't pay for the women's health insurance. As a result, the women don't have access to even the most basic health care, according to official numbers, which the government compiled from surveys conducted in 2003.

Patricia Espinosa, president of the National Institute of Women, said many maids endure a range of abuse--all in the name of necessity.

"Most of them have suffered during her life some form of discrimination, like physical and verbal violence, economic exploitation and even rape," she said.

Isidra Ortiz Perez, 66, cleaned the homes of Mexico City's wealthy for 50 years, until she was recently struck with a painful and nearly fatal gallbladder problem that has left her bedridden in her small rooftop apartment.

She doesn't know if she'll ever be able to work again, and she doesn't have medical insurance, retirement benefits or any savings. She survives on what is given to her by her 38-year-old daughter, who is the product of Ortiz having been raped on the job.

"When they knew I was pregnant they fired me," recalled Ortiz, as she fought back tears on a recent evening. "A few months later they came looking for me to take away the child, but I hid and they never found me."

EXPLOITED WORLDWIDE

This abuse of maids is not unique to Mexico, and the Wall Street Journal recently published a front-page report on how, particularly in developing nations, families with even moderate incomes exploit an overflowing pool of cheap domestic labor.

In Mexico, even lower-class families can afford domestic help, and international businessmen and other foreigners often express surprise at the options available for excellent maid service--something that is generally reserved for the upper classes in the United States.

In Mexico City, the home of an estimated 170,000 maids, some have banded together to form loose working collectives, in which they can establish some sort of protection for one another and create small insurance pools. But these groups are splintered and rarely number more than 100 to 200 maids.

For women's rights defenders, the only way to improve maids' work conditions is when Mexican society recognizes the importance of their domestic work in the nation's economy.

Isabel Ordonez is a Mexico City-based freelance writer.

Photos by Margaret Myers