Female-Headed Households in Latin America

Behind much of the discussion on economic, social, political, cultural and religious matters lay the notion of the ideal family --- a nuclear family with a married couple and their children.  Many planning models are premised upon providing services to these normative families.  Increasingly, this normative family is becoming a minority in contemporary Latin American families, due to ruptures in the economic, social, political, cultural and religious fabrics. 

Today, Latin Americans face a number of challenges that stem from a changing global environment.  Not all Latin Americans cope equally well with these changes, as some are more vulnerable than others.  If much of the previous problems (such as revolutionary wars and peasant rebellions) arose in reaction to social and economic injustices, the new global order has not necessarily led to improvements.  In addition to vast inequalities in land and capital ownership, there are now inequalities in knowledge and educational capital.  To reduce these inequities require the identification of the disadvantaged segments of society and the formulation of appropriate state and private responses and policies.

In Latin American and elsewhere, it has been observed that one vulnerable segment of society consists of the households whose heads are female.  The normative family used to be premised upon a division of labor, with the husband being the princpal wage-earner and the wife being the homemaker, although dual wage-earners are now quite common.  By comparison, the female head of household may earn only one wage (which is often lesser than men's wages) as well as being responsible for the housework and family.  If the nuclear family is regarded as ideal, then the female-headed household is considered abnormal by reason of a general breakdown of the social and moral system by way of abandonment, divorce, unwed motherhood, and so on.

We will now cite some survey data taken from the TGI Latina survey.  This is a survey of 46,244 persons between the ages of 12 and 64 years old in seven Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile (Santiago), Colombia, Mexico, Peru (Lima) and Venezuela (Caracas)) covering a population.  Among these respondents, 24.6% of them live in households which are headed by a female.

In the next table, we show the breakdown by household characteristics.  

Household Demographic Characteristics

% Households headed by a female
Country
     Argentina
     Brazil
     Chile (Santiago)
     Colombia
     Mexico
     Peru (Lima)
     Venezuela (Caracas)

27%
26%
20%
31%
19%
22%
29%
Socio-economic Level
    Level A (top 10%)
    Level B (next 20%)
    Level C (next 30%)
    Level D (bottom 40%)

14%
18%
25%
30%
Age of Head of Household
     19 years old or under
     20 to 24 years
     25 to 34 years
     35 to 44 years
     45 to 54 years
     55 to 64 years
     65 years or older

22%
20%
20%
25%
29%
32%
32%
Head of Household Employment Status
     Full-time employed
     Part-time employed
     Unemployed
         Student
         Retired

16%
36%
44%
47%
31%
Household Size
     1 person
     2 persons
     3 persons
     4 to 6 persons
     7 to 9 persons
     10 or more persons

48%
37%
26%
18%
19%
21%
     TOTAL 25%

(source: TGI Latina)

In the next table, we compare the marital status of female household heads against all household heads.

Personal Demographic Characteristics % Among All Heads of Households % Among Female Heads of Households
Marital Status
     Single
     Consensual union
     Married
     Separated
     Divorced
     Widowed

19%
11%
52%
  8%
  4%
  7%

31%
  6%
18%
18%
  8%
18%
TOTAL 100% 100%

(source: TGI Latina)

The most obvious relationship with the presence of female household head is socio-economic level --- the incidence increases monotonically with decreasing socio-economic level.  Female heads of households are much more likely not to be married.

The other demographic variables suggest that there may in fact be at least three very different segments: (1) younger single women, especially students; (2) divorced/separated/widowed older women (45 years or older), especially retirees; (3) single parent who are unemployed or only work part-time.

The interpretation of these data is actually quite difficult.  For example, while we perceive a strong relationship between socio-economic level and the presence of female household head, we should bear in mind that socio-economic level is defined in terms of ownership of household services and goods.  Thus, a number of points is awarded for ownership for an automobile, and more points are awarded for ownership of more than one automobile.  But is there any reason for a single woman to either want or need to own two or more automobiles?

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(posted by Roland Soong, 2/3/2001)


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