UNMARRIED COHABITATION AMONG DEPRIVED FAMILIES IN CHILE Alejandra Margarita Ramm Santelices Newnham College This dissertation is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 21 May 2013 ii Unmarried Cohabitation among Deprived Families in Chile Alejandra Margarita Ramm Santelices Abstract It is clear that unmarried cohabitation is increasing in Chile. It is less clear what unmarried cohabitation is and why is it rising. In Latin America cohabitation is common among low income groups, and has been described as a surrogate marriage for the disadvantaged. Cohabitation in the region entails conventional gender roles and having children. It has been explained by colonial dominance, poverty, kinship, and machismo. The evidence amassed here indicates that although in practice cohabitation is similar to marriage, they are not the same. In fact, cohabitation has decreased social visibility. Cohabitation does not entail any social ceremony or rite. As it is not institutionalised it remains concealed from both social recognition and social scrutiny. Thus it tolerates partners who are dissimilar, or can be sustained despite a higher level of difficulties in a relationship. The findings validate previous research as cohabitation is sparked by pregnancy, parental tolerance - mainly through not enforcing marriage -, a close mother-son bond –which inhibits marriage-, and the material costs of marriage. The research follows a life course perspective. It is based on twenty four qualitative life histories of urban deprived young people, women and men, involved in a consensual union and with children. In Chile from the 1990s onwards cohabitation started to show a sharp increase. Prevalent views explain rising cohabitation as an outcome of processes of individualization, democratization of relationships, and female emancipation. This research suggests that rising cohabitation, among young people from low income groups in Chile, is linked to enhanced autonomy (i.e. declining patriarchy), and to social benefits targeted to single mothers. Young people are gaining autonomy as union formation is increasingly an outcome of romantic love and not of being forced into marriage. Furthermore cohabitation rose right at the end of Pinochet’s dictatorship, at a time of enhanced freedom and autonomy. By contrast, rising cohabitation does not seem to be related to female emancipation. Interviewees themselves reproduce conventional gender roles, and social policies targeted to the single mother are based on conventional views on womanhood. iii Table of contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................................... ii List of figures ............................................................................................................................................................... iv List of tables ................................................................................................................................................................ iv List of boxes .................................................................................................................................................................. v List of illustrations ....................................................................................................................................................... v Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................................................... vi Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................................................ viii INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 1 - CHILE: SOCIAL CHANGE AND FAMILIES ........................................................... 20 NUPTIALITY AND FERTILITY ................................................................................................................... 21 POVERTY , EMPLOYMENT , AND EDUCATION ........................................................................................... 31 FAMILY LAW AND THE STATE ................................................................................................................ 44 SOCIAL POLICIES AND UNMARRIED MOTHERS ....................................................................................... 52 CHAPTER 2 - CULTURE AND DISADVANTAGE ............................................................................ 70 MODERNIZATION .................................................................................................................................... 71 RACE AND SEX ....................................................................................................................................... 79 DEPRIVATION AND KINSHIP .................................................................................................................... 87 MACHISMO ............................................................................................................................................. 96 CHAPTER 3 - RESEARCH DESIGN .................................................................................................. 106 CHAPTER 4 - MAKING ENDS MEET ............................................................................................... 114 THE BREADWINNER .............................................................................................................................. 115 WOMEN AND EMPLOYMENT ................................................................................................................. 121 THE SINGLE MOTHER ........................................................................................................................... 125 LIVING ARRANGEMENTS ...................................................................................................................... 131 CHAPTER 5 - PARENTS AND MARRIAGE..................................................................................... 140 RESILIENT FAMILIES ............................................................................................................................. 142 PARENTING ........................................................................................................................................... 148 SONS AND DAUGHTERS ........................................................................................................................ 154 ENFORCED MARRIAGE ......................................................................................................................... 160 CHAPTER 6 - SEX AND PREGNANCY ............................................................................................ 167 SEXUAL ARRANGEMENTS ..................................................................................................................... 168 COURTSHIP ........................................................................................................................................... 175 CONTRACEPTION .................................................................................................................................. 180 EXPECTING A CHILD ............................................................................................................................. 185 CHAPTER 7 - LIVING TOGETHER .................................................................................................. 195 COUPLES .............................................................................................................................................. 196 CHILDREN ............................................................................................................................................ 201 WOMEN AND MEN ................................................................................................................................ 206 COHABITATION AND MARRIAGE .......................................................................................................... 211 CONCLUSIONS ..................................................................................................................................... 221 APPENDICES ........................................................................................................................................ 246 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................................. 270 iv List of figures FIGURE I.1: CONSENSUAL UNIONS IN LATIN AMERICA , AROUND THE YEAR 2000 (PERCENTAGE OF WOMEN AGED 15-49 IN A PARTNERSHIP AT THE TIME OF DATA COLLECTION ) ................................................... 3 FIGURE I.2: SCATTERPLOT OF LEVELS OF UNMARRIED COHABITATION AGAINST THE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX , HDI, IN LATIN AMERICA ......................................................................................................... 7 FIGURE I.3: SCATTERPLOT OF COHABITATION AGAINST EXTENDED FAMILY HOUSEHOLDS IN LATIN AMERICA ............................................................................................................................................. 8 FIGURE I.4: SCATTERPLOT OF COHABITATION AGAINST GENDER INEQUALITY INDEX SCORES FOR IN LATIN AMERICA ............................................................................................................................................