New patterns of marriage practices among poor and non-poor women in Latin America

Jorge Armando Valencia-Rodriguez, University of Pennsylvania
Katherine Wilson, Population Council

Latin America has experienced important transformations of the last century developmental and socio-demographic which are reflected in an increased dissociation between sex and marriage and childbearing greatly attributed to the growing secularization. LA women have benefited from improvements in educational level, a greater autonomy, a lower fertility and higher contraceptive use. However, large differential between poor and non-poor women exists, thus impacting marriage practices that could result in a lack of options and reduced opportunities of well-being for women in low income groups. The weakening of traditional norms, such as shotgun marriages may result in making women more vulnerable in entering in to consensual unions that are more unstable and where unbalance gender relations prevail (characterized by domestic violence). DHS data and other demographic surveys for 2 points in time will be use. Countries to be analyzed -Bolivia, Colombia, México and Peru- represent the possible variations in the LA region.