$Unique_ID{COW03833} $Pretitle{297} $Title{Uruguay Chapter 6B. Social Mobility and Change} $Subtitle{} $Author{The Director Foreign Area Studies} $Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army} $Subject{family class children middle families lower social parents percent upper} $Date{1971} $Log{} Country: Uruguay Book: Area Handbook for Uruguay Author: The Director Foreign Area Studies Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army Date: 1971 Chapter 6B. Social Mobility and Change Because of an urbanized society and an expanding industrial base, Uruguay has had a highly mobile society in the past, but by 1970 mobility had lessened. A survey conducted in Montevideo and the rural areas between 1958 and 1962 revealed that, from a random sample of 1,718 male household heads, about one-fourth belonged to a higher class than their fathers, slightly over half had maintained the same class position, and approximately one-sixth were in a lower class than their fathers. In the same period the percentage of individuals performing nonmanual work increased slightly, with a concurrent decrease in the proportion of manual labor. In general, the long-term trend is toward an increase in size of the upper and middle classes and a concurrent decline in the lower class. Upward mobility is limited by the importance of personal and family connections in obtaining a job or social position. Selection for positions in the government or private enterprises is generally based on kinship, membership in a certain club or political faction, or friendship rather than on universalistic criteria such as standardized tests, educational level, grades, or experience. When such criteria are applied, the candidate has usually already been selected on the basis of personal relationships. Recruitment for the top professional, administrative, and executive positions in business and government occurs almost entirely from within the ranks of the upper class. Mobility is greater for the middle-status positions but decreases at the lowest levels of society, where individuals rarely move significantly higher than the level of their fathers. Overcrowding at the upper levels of society decreases the chance for mobility, particularly for young educated, middle class individuals. The long life expectancy means that many top positions are held for long periods of time by older men. Because the country is small and the economy is expanding slowly, it is unable to absorb the number of qualified applicants, and many are forced to emigrate. Some Uruguayans feel that the extent of foreign capital and investment in the country also limits their possibilities for advancement (see ch. 4, Population and Labor Force). Education is the most common avenue for social mobility, and secondary academic school plays an especially significant role. Studies indicate that, if an individual exceeds the educational level of his father, he will probably experience some upward mobility, while a failure to achieve the same amount of education as the father will result in a decline in social status. A study made in Montevideo found that almost 50 percent of the residents were more extensively educated than their fathers, while only 10 percent had less formal education. The level of educational attainment, however, is directly dependent on the economic and class position of the family. Even in government elementary schools, the dropout rate between the first and sixth grades in urban areas is 50 percent, in comparison to 80 percent in the poorer rural schools. Academic secondary education is highly valued as a road to middle class status, but for lower class and lower middle class families it is a heavy drain on the family resources, and many families are reluctant to permit entry into the secondary school unless they are sure that the child can go through to the university level. In a study made in Montevideo, it was shown that the children of upper class families are much more likely to finish academic secondary school than those of the lower class. A sample of a public high school revealed that 27 percent of the first-year class and only 13 percent of the last-year class were of the lower stratum of society (see ch. 8, Education). Technical and vocational education is increasingly unpopular, since it leads to occupations involving manual labor, and is gradually being replaced by academic schooling in the aspirations of the lower middle and lower classes. If the child of a lower-level white-collar worker fails in secondary school, his parents are likely to send him to a business school, where he will be trained to perform white-collar work even if at the lowest level. In Montevideo a working-class child with low or failing grades tends to stay in school longer than the child of lower middle class parents in a similar situation. The child of lower middle class parents is more likely to avail himself of the business school option, since the father's personal connections within the middle class will enable him to find a position for his son. In contrast, unless the working-class child finishes secondary school, he is likely to slip back into the lower class. University education continues to be almost exclusively an upper and upper middle class prerogative. A 1960 university census indicated that at the time of matriculation 30 percent of the student body was upper class, 46 percent middle class, and 12 percent lower class. Since the dropout rate is higher for the poorer students, even fewer lower and lower middle class children gain university degrees than matriculate. In 1968 another survey indicated than 60 percent of the students were from Montevideo, 32 percent from the interior, and 8 percent from abroad. Of the provincial students, however, only 2.5 percent came from the rural sector, and almost none were from the poorest segments of rural society (see ch. 8, Education). A person can also achieve higher status by landownership, by the transition from manual to nonmanual labor, and by an elegant life style. The noticeable display of material prosperity in socially accepted forms increases an individual's social prestige. Membership in high-status social clubs or associations and marriage into a more influential and powerful family are other avenues of social advancement. Class consciousness is characteristic of the upper class and some segments of the lower class, such as the unionized industrial workers, but is generally lacking among the agricultural workers and peasants. Many middle class people in Montevideo and the interior towns are aware of their class interests as expressed through political ideologies of the Colorado Party and of their existence as a social category. The disparate nature of the middle class, however, prevents the entire social group from experiencing a unified class consciousness. In some cases the upper fringes identify with the upper class and, although the lower middle class may be anxious to emulate middle class ideals and habits, it often lacks the material means and education to lead the accepted middle class way of life. There is some evidence that during the 1960s class differences had become accentuated in response to inflation, economic crises, and increasing domestic violence. Government employees experienced a significant drop in real wages between 1961 and 1966, and, in the same period, incomes of agricultural workers and laborers also decreased. The rampant inflation of the 1957-67 period was far more damaging to the middle and lower classes than to the commercial, business, and landowning elites. During the 1960s labor union activity was intense, producing increased political and class consciousness among the urban industrial working class and some unionized segments of the middle class, such as government employees (see ch. 20, Labor Relations and Organization). The wage and price stabilization program of the late 1960s was beginning to improve the position of the middle and lower classes in 1970. Many lower class workers and some segments of the middle class, however, felt that the stabilization had been conducted at their expense to the benefit of the financial and business interests (see ch. 22, Finance). Family Patterns The Emergence of the Modern Family The upper class criollo family of the colonial period preserved many of the characteristics of the traditional Spanish family. Extended families made up of a large number of kinsmen who maintained close relations with one another were typical. The father was a dominant and authoritarian figure who controlled the family's economic and social existence, the future of his children, and the behavior of all family members. The wife's authority extended to household matters and the socialization, education, and religious training of the children, but in all areas she was ultimately subject to the wishes and decisions of her husband. Children were always desired, and large families were the rule. The larger kin group played an important role in social and economic life. An individual relied on the assistance of family members in finding a good position and establishing himself in society. The family was the core of social life and often gathered to celebrate a baptism, first communion, marriage, or other important event in the life of a family member. The lower class rural family in the same period was smaller and less cohesive. The nomadic gaucho often did not establish any permanent union, choosing instead a succession of temporary liaisons. Even if he formed a longstanding relationship, he usually did not reside permanently with his family, a pattern that continued to influence poorer rural families in 1970. Lower class urbanites also maintained close relationships with a more restricted circle of kin than the upper class, although a large number of children was common to all levels of society. Commencing in the mid-nineteenth century, the effects of urbanization, secularization, and immigration served to undermine the norms and values supporting the traditional large-family pattern. In an urban environment children are an economic burden, since they are unable to contribute to the family livelihood as easily as a rural area. Furthermore, housing may be limited and food more expensive. The urban child needs an education if he is to find a good position in society, creating further drains on the family income. In the late nineteenth century the influence of the immigrants was increasing. Many Uruguayans imitated the customs, habits, and life styles of the middle and upper class immigrants of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; since a large portion of the higher status immigrants were French, German, British, or North American, their small-family tradition was introduced into the country (see ch. 5, Ethnic Groups and Languages; ch. 10, Religion). The progressive education and emancipation of women during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries encouraged many middle and upper class wives to restrict the size of their families in favor of activities outside the home. By 1908 the average family had only three children, and many had fewer. The welfare measures of Battle y Ordonez gradually substituted state agencies for the extended family as the source of social security and insurance against economic crisis, thus reducing the individual's dependence on his larger network of kin. By World War I a large family was still considered the norm, but most urban dwellers, especially the growing middle class, had begun to restrict family size and to maintain close relationships with a fairly small circle of kin. Structure and Function of the Family In 1970 the average urban family consisted of a husband, his wife, and one or two children. Some 80 percent of the residential family units in Montevideo consisted of only parents and children. Working-class families tend to be slightly larger than those of the middle class. Upper class families are also typically somewhat larger and have been estimated to average six members. The small family is partially a result of economic structures, which affect the middle class in particular. Most moderately wealthy parents prefer to have only as many children as they can adequately feed, clothe, and educate. Urban living quarters are often too limited to accommodate large families. In the 1957-67 period inflation, the shaky economy, and the unreliability of the social security system further discouraged parents from increasing the size of their families. For many middle class families, a large number of children is a luxury they cannot afford. Reduced family size is mostly a result of putting off marriage and of postponing having children until some time after marriage. Family planning is widely accepted among the urban middle and upper classes as well as large segments of the lower class. Although abortion is officially illegal, in 1968 the abortion rate was estimated to be three times the number of live births. In 1967 Uruguay had several private family planning associations and a family planning clinic in Montevideo. In 1962 a family planning symposium was held in Montevideo to discuss natural and artificial means of regulating conception, sexual education, premarital counseling, and assistance to a sterile or infertile couple. Families in the interior towns and agricultural regions are similar to those in Montevideo in structure and size. The smallest urban communities, however, tend to have a birth rate almost double the national average. The rural livestock regions are plagued by family instability and a lack of women. A family pattern in which the mother cares for a large number of children sired by several different men in typical of the poorer families in this region. Most families living in the communities of small houses on the fringes of estancias are of this type. Few marry formally; in some interior departments rates of illegitimacy range from 35 percent to as high as 69 percent of all births. As the children grow old enough to work, they are often forced to leave home in order to find jobs and, in many cases, migrate in their early teens. Most poor workers are financially unable to marry and, even if they were able, probably could not live with their families while they worked on an estancia. The very poor will occasionally give away their children if they are incapable of feeding and caring for them. Rural migrants to the city and towns are predominantly women, since it is they who are generally unable to find an economic niche in the livestock region. The 1963 census reported that, on the average, there were 133 men to every 100 women in the rural interior. Males significantly outnumbered females in the five-to-nine-year age group. In the twenty-to-twenty-nine-year category, there were almost 150 men to every 100 women living in the countryside; in the fifty-five-to-fifty-nine-year group, the ratio was 175 men to every 100 women (see ch. 4, Population and Labor Force). The family situation in the urban shantytowns is similar. Few adults marry, although they may maintain longstanding relationships. Families average about five members, but additional adults often live in each household. They are not always relatives; many are recent migrants or occasionally criminals hiding from the police. In general, the number of adults is larger than that of children. The functions performed by the urban family have diminished, but in general it continues to be stable, cohesive unit primarily concerned with the care, socialization, and early education of children. The state welfare measures relieve the family of financial burden of caring for aged, unemployed and, in some cases, sick members. A system of family allowances is designed as a wage supplement to assist poorer families, in particular, with the care of their children. A periodic allotment for each child under the age of fourteen, or the age of sixteen if he is attending school, is distributed to all families earning below a certain income level, and payments increase in direct proportion to the poverty level of the family (see ch. 20, Labor Relations and Organization). The family continues to be an important center of social life, but in urban areas its members are increasingly involved in nonfamilial organizations, such as social and athletic clubs, community groups, and political associations. In rural areas such organizations are far less common and the family plays a correspondingly greater role in social events. The family serves to establish an individual's position in society, assuming greater importance with each step up the social ladder. Elites are often interrelated by family ties, and even elective political offices tend to be held within large family groups. The concern with maintaining family position and prestige leads propertied middle and upper class individuals to avoid any risks to the family wealth, such as speculative economic ventures, and contributes to the typical middle class interest in security, stability, and moderation. Family property usually passes to the children. If an individual dies intestate, illegitimate children receive a share amounting to two-thirds of that of each legitimate child. If the deceased was a legitimate child and he has no legitimate descendants, his estate is divided among his nearest ascendants, his spouse, and his natural children. If there are no relatives in these categories, the estate is distributed among the brothers and sisters and the adopted children or, in cases where none of these relatives survives, to adoptive parents, collateral relatives to the fourth degree and, ultimately, the state. The distribution of property to the heirs of a natural child who dies intestate follows approximately the same principles, although the parents who recognize the deceased as their child take precedence over adoptive parents. An individual can make a will and distribute his property generally as he wishes. Family Relationships Relations between husband and wife, while conforming to the pattern of male dominance, are affected by the relative quality between the sexes in the society at large. Men hold the dominant positions in society, but women are often involved in national life. The woman is generally considered capable of taking part in a business deal, a government enterprise, or a cultural event. Since the late nineteenth century women have been encouraged to attend schools up to the university level, and in 1970 almost half the total school population was female. The professions have long been open to women; they are active in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and government administration. Women participate in even greater numbers in education, social work, and retail merchandising and almost monopolize nursing and home economics. In addition, they participate in political parties, labor unions, business associations, and civil groups and, in some cases, have assumed leadership positions. In 1964 it was estimated that 37 percent of all women in Montevideo worked or studied outside the home and that women made up 31 percent of the total work force in the city. In the country as a whole, approximately one worker in four is a woman. Women have extensive legal rights. They have full political equality, are able to own property, can hold a bank account in their own names, and may petition for a divorce with no proof required. In a few cases, women have held elected political office. In the 1967-72 term of the national legislature, there were two women in the Senate; the Chamber of Representatives has had female members for many years. In 1968 a leading woman politician was appointed minister of culture. The National Women's Movement for Social Justice and Peace was founded in 1968 to improve the social conditions of the country. Some women are skillful broncobusters and participate in the annual rodeo during Semana Criollo (Week of the Creole). Among lower class families, the woman may be an important breadwinner and, in some cases, is the only center of family life. Relations within the family are usually harmonious and peaceful. It is generally accepted that older children dominate over younger, boys over girls, and husbands over wives. A 1964 survey of university students in Montevideo revealed that the large majority were satisfied with their childhood family life and wished their own family to be similar. Female students were particularly concerned about a further emancipation of the woman from the home. Most students believed their parents had prepared them adequately for life. Although many students were anxious to establish their independence, there was little indication of conflict or hostility between the generations. A husband's relations with another woman are acceptable only if he behaves discreetly; he may appear in public with his mistress, but he must keep her far removed from his family and any social functions where wives are present. If he creates a public scandal or if he commits adultery in the home, it constitutes grounds for his wife to divorce him. On the other hand, any adultery on the part of a wife gives her husband grounds for applying for a divorce. Extended family ties are most important at the top levels of society, decreasing in significance in the lower strata. The upper middle and upper class extended families may be united by common economic interest, such as family lands or joint family enterprises. Members of elite families are often proud of their ancestry and family traditions. Families usually choose to use both the paternal surname and the maternal maiden name to indicate their lineage. This practice is common, although not universal, at many levels of society. Although family traditions are less important at the lower levels of society, the extended family still performs important mutual assistance functions. Relatives in a lower class family may exchange tools and equipment with one another, lend or borrow money, or care for one another's children. Among the rural poor, however, migration separates families and often renders contact with even the nuclear family difficult. The institution of ritual godparenthood seems to have only minor importance. Marriage and Divorce Civil, rather than religious, marriage was first permitted in 1837 and by 1885 was the only legally recognized form. If a couple wishes to have a church ceremony, they must first be married before a state official and four witnesses, then present the certificate to the clergyman performing the religious ritual. Only in extreme cases may the religious precede the civil ceremony. Men must be over fourteen years of age and women over twelve; until they reach the ages of twenty-five and twenty-three, respectively, permission of the parents or legitimate ascendants is required. The married couple generally holds property in common, although both retain the right to own property individually. In 1927 the marriage ceremony was officially amended so that the woman no longer promises to be obedient, but both bride and bridegroom vow to respect each other. A large proportion of marriages are solemnized by a religious ceremony. The highest rate is found among the middle class, and the lowest rate is among industrial workers and small businessmen. Many couples establish a semipermanent union without any formal marriage ceremony. A large number are hesitant because of their suspicions of official formalities, their inability to pay the expenses, their lack of a cultural and psychological orientation toward marriage, or their ignorance of the advantages of a legally constituted marriage. In many cases a man is unable to obtain a binding divorce from a previous marriage. Illegitimacy rates provide a rough indication of the frequency of nonformalized unions. The national average in the late 1950s was 29 percent of all births. Rates tend to be highest in the north and lowest in the farm regions of the south, such as San Jose or Canelones. The country was early in legalizing divorce, voting it into effect in 1907. At that time a woman was permitted to sue on the grounds of cruelty and a man chiefly in the case of adultery. Acceptable grounds for divorce have since been expanded to include adultery by the husband in certain circumstances, attempted murder if it results in a criminal conviction, or voluntary desertion for over three years. A divorce is also permissible by mutual consent, with no reason given and no proof necessary. According to divorce law, a husband is always bound to support the wife if she is not the guilty party, with the amount fixed according to his ability to pay and the needs of his wife. Ideally, she should be able to maintain the economic position she had during marriage. She loses this support, however, if she remarries or leads a depraved life. If either spouse is indigent, he or she may demand support payments from the other party. Custody of the children is determined by agreement of the spouses or, if they are unable to agree, by the decision of the judge. Both are liable for the maintenance and education of their children. Divorce proceedings are long and expensive, especially in cases in which the divorce is requested on the basis of mutual consent or the wishes of the wife. Several hearings must be held over a long period of time. If the intention to divorce is not reiterated at any one of the established times, the proceeding is halted and cannot be resumed in the same form. The frequency of divorce per 1,000 marriages doubled between 1935 and 1960. In the early 1960s about 70 to 85 divorces were granted for every 1,000 marriages performed each year. Studies show that marriages are most likely to break up after from six to fifteen years, with the highest rate between six and ten years of marriage. Only about 14 percent dissolve before five years, and a very few couples separate after twenty-five years. In most cases divorce is a step toward a new union or the legitimation of an existing relationship. In 1960 the number of marriages in Montevideo involving at least one divorced person was 12 percent of the total number of marriages but 65 percent of the number of divorces in the entire country. Childhood and Youth Although the number of children in each family is small, they are greatly desired and well cared for. Most parents have their children baptized in the Roman Catholic Church during the first months after birth. At this time he is given a saint's name and acquires a godfather and godmother, who sponsor the child's baptism and promise to safeguard his development and religious training. The godparents are usually chosen by the parents and are individuals whom they respect and for whom they feel affection. Usually, a child of unmarried parents will officially be recognized as a child of a particular person, although he continues to be an illegitimate or natural child. During their minority, natural children are given special legal protection. They can acquire legitimate status by the subsequent marriage of their parents or by adoption by a married couple if the biological parents are unknown. Both legitimate and natural children can be adopted by any person over thirty who is at least twenty years older than the child to be adopted. The child must first spend two years in the custody of the adopting person or family. The adoption of a minor requires the consent of his parents or guardian and, if he is over eighteen, his own consent as well. Responsibility for the socialization of children rests on both parents, but the father is the primary disciplinarian and authority. The mother is freer to establish more sympathetic and indulgent relationships with her children, although she also will discipline them if necessary. The complete control a father has in a small town or rural environment is not always possible in the city. Urban children are likely to have more friends and activities outside the home, especially in connection with school functions, and the peer group assumes correspondingly greater importance. Discipline among working-class families is likely to be inconsistent and arbitrary. Children may be left to their own activities except when they cause annoyance. In many poor families no father is present, making discipline even more erratic. Juvenile delinquency is becoming an increasingly serious problem, partially because of a lack of discipline in the home, unstable families, and early migration away from home (see ch. 23, Public Order and Internal Security.) Boys and girls are taught their sex roles early in life. As young children, they learn that boys dominate over girls. Boys are expected to be authoritative, strong, and aggressive. Girls are trained to be modest, retiring, deferential to male authority, and competent in the household tasks required of a wife and mother. The first communion is usually regarded as an important step in the child's development. Many families also have a special celebration for their daughter's fifteenth birthday. Except for the relatively small number of children in private Catholic schools. Uruguayans attend coeducational schools and have opportunities for association with the opposite sex from their earliest school years. Although girls are more restricted than boys in their social life, they are increasingly free to date without chaperonage, especially in the urban areas. Single dates are acceptable in some cases, but most parents prefer double dates and group activities and generally want to know the young man before allowing their daughter to date him. Teenagers are free to attend parties, picnics, motion picture theaters, and other group activities. Middle and upper class children, in particular, are encouraged to behave properly in public, and girls are careful to preserve a good reputation. Although young people are, to a large extent, free to meet their future marriage partners on their own, the consent and approval of parents are still important to most young people. Men generally marry in their late twenties and early thirties; the number who marry under twenty is negligible. Women marry slightly earlier, usually in their early twenties, and a small number marry under twenty years of age. After marriage, the ideal is to live apart from the parents, but in many cases housing shortages render this difficult. In general, parents maintain considerable influence over their children longer than they do in North American families. Women tend to have children in their twenties, although it is not uncommon for a woman to bear children until her late thirties.