Maira Covre-Sussai

Disentangling the Different Types of Cohabitation in Latin America: Gender Symmetry and Contextual Influences

Recent research has attested the existence of different types of cohabitation in Latin America. It is well documented that, along with a historic cohabitation, driven by poverty, modern consensual unions are booming in the region. These modern types can be explained by the framework of the Second Demographic Transition (SDT), which relates new forms of romantic relationships to socioeconomic development and changes in the ideational domain towards post materialistic values such as egalitarianism. Data from the DHS (N=65,765) of fifty Latin American regions from six countries (Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Honduras and Peru) are used to (i) explain different types of cohabitation in Latin America and (ii) to distinguish them from marriage in terms of gender symmetry and environmental influences. Multilevel linear probability regression is applied to describe previously identified types of cohabitation: traditional, innovative and blended (Covre-Sussai et al., 2014). Following, these types of cohabitation are compared to marriage in a multilevel multinomial logistic analysis. As expected, the traditional cohabitation was found to be related to female subordination and socioeconomic deprivation. The innovative and blended types of cohabitation show higher levels of gender symmetry, when compared to the traditional type and to marriage. In addition, these unions happen in places where cohabitation was never common before, such as among whites and Catholics. This study confirms the occurrence of modern types of cohabitation in Latin America. These modern types are more egalitarian and suggest the advent of the SDT in the region.

Socioeconomic and cultural features of consensual unions in Brazil

La convivencia conyugal entre los estratos sociales mas bajos es una practica muy conocida en America Latina. Sin embargo, estas uniones de convivencia estan aumentando en la region entre los grupos con un nivel alto de educacion formal y en paises donde nunca fue sobresaliente, como en Brasil. Esta investigacion utiliza datos de las parejas de los censos demograficos proporcionados por IPUMS (N=193.689) para identificar las caracteristicas socio-economicas y culturales de la union consensual en Brasil. El efecto de la educacion de la mujer, la clase social de la pareja, los hijos y la religion son analizadas. Utilizando un analisis multinivel, se pone atencion especial al ambiente cultural donde ocurren estas uniones. Los resultados indican que los factores socio-economicos afectan las uniones consensuales en Brasil. Esas uniones siguen siendo mas comunes entre las clases sociales mas bajas y las mujeres que poseen menos educacion formal, sin embargo tambien se encuentran entre las clases altas. La diversidad cultural encontrada entre los estados brasilenos tambien se refleja en el comportamiento conyugal. Mientras que se halla diferencia significativa al nivel del Estado, la composicion etnica de cada estado explica parcialmente estas diferencias

Características socioeconômicas e culturais das uniões consensuais no Brasil

La convivencia conyugal entre los estratos sociales mas bajos es una practica muy conocida en America Latina. Sin embargo, estas uniones de convivencia estan aumentando en la region entre los grupos con un nivel alto de educacion formal y en paises donde nunca fue sobresaliente, como en Brasil. Esta investigacion utiliza datos de las parejas de los censos demograficos proporcionados por IPUMS (N=193.689) para identificar las caracteristicas socio-economicas y culturales de la union consensual en Brasil. El efecto de la educacion de la mujer, la clase social de la pareja, los hijos y la religion son analizadas. Utilizando un analisis multinivel, se pone atencion especial al ambiente cultural donde ocurren estas uniones. Los resultados indican que los factores socio-economicos afectan las uniones consensuales en Brasil. Esas uniones siguen siendo mas comunes entre las clases sociales mas bajas y las mujeres que poseen menos educacion formal, sin embargo tambien se encuentran entre las clases altas. La diversidad cultural encontrada entre los estados brasilenos tambien se refleja en el comportamiento conyugal. Mientras que se halla diferencia significativa al nivel del Estado, la composicion etnica de cada estado explica parcialmente estas diferencias

Características socioeconómicas y culturales de las uniones consensuales en Brasil

La convivencia conyugal entre los estratos sociales mas bajos es una practica muy conocida en America Latina. Sin embargo, estas uniones de convivencia estan aumentando en la region entre los grupos con un nivel alto de educacion formal y en paises donde nunca fue sobresaliente, como en Brasil. Esta investigacion utiliza datos de las parejas de los censos demograficos proporcionados por IPUMS (N=193.689) para identificar las caracteristicas socio-economicas y culturales de la union consensual en Brasil. El efecto de la educacion de la mujer, la clase social de la pareja, los hijos y la religion son analizadas. Utilizando un analisis multinivel, se pone atencion especial al ambiente cultural donde ocurren estas uniones. Los resultados indican que los factores socio-economicos afectan las uniones consensuales en Brasil. Esas uniones siguen siendo mas comunes entre las clases sociales mas bajas y las mujeres que poseen menos educacion formal, sin embargo tambien se encuentran entre las clases altas. La diversidad cultural encontrada entre los estados brasilenos tambien se refleja en el comportamiento conyugal. Mientras que se halla diferencia significativa al nivel del Estado, la composicion etnica de cada estado explica parcialmente estas diferencias

Decisiones conjuntas de las parejas: la construcción y validación de los elementos fundamentales para entender las relaciones de género en familias contemporáneas

Gender relations have become a key dimension in family studies, and understanding gender relations as both determining and resulting from outcome of new family configurations requires the use of specific surveys aimed at the dynamics of couples. Unfortunately, nationally representative surveys of this type are not available for Latin American countries. Nonetheless, the most recent versions of the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) include a section called “Women’s Status and Empowerment”, which can provide information about gender relations as well. This study aims at assessing the construct of gender relations in terms of couples’ joint decision-making for all five Brazilian geographical regions. To this end, a step-by-step multi-group confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA) was applied in order to verify whether this concept can be compared across Brazilian regions. Results show that the DHS items can be used reliably for measuring couples’ joint decision-making and that this construct can be meaningfully compared over the regions. These findings will contribute to further demographic and sociological research on gender relations which can use this concept and other indicators provided by the DHS to identify the causal processes related to it.

Couples' joint decision-making: the construction and validation of a key proxy for understanding gender relations in contemporary families

Gender relations have become a key dimension in family studies, and understanding gender relations as both determining and resulting from outcome of new family configurations requires the use of specific surveys aimed at the dynamics of couples. Unfortunately, nationally representative surveys of this type are not available for Latin American countries. Nonetheless, the most recent versions of the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) include a section called “Women’s Status and Empowerment”, which can provide information about gender relations as well. This study aims at assessing the construct of gender relations in terms of couples’ joint decision-making for all five Brazilian geographical regions. To this end, a step-by-step multi-group confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA) was applied in order to verify whether this concept can be compared across Brazilian regions. Results show that the DHS items can be used reliably for measuring couples’ joint decision-making and that this construct can be meaningfully compared over the regions. These findings will contribute to further demographic and sociological research on gender relations which can use this concept and other indicators provided by the DHS to identify the causal processes related to it.

Tomada de decisão conjunta: construção e validação de uma proxy-chave para o estudo das relações de gênero de casais contemporâneos

Gender relations have become a key dimension in family studies, and understanding gender relations as both determining and resulting from outcome of new family configurations requires the use of specific surveys aimed at the dynamics of couples. Unfortunately, nationally representative surveys of this type are not available for Latin American countries. Nonetheless, the most recent versions of the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) include a section called “Women’s Status and Empowerment”, which can provide information about gender relations as well. This study aims at assessing the construct of gender relations in terms of couples’ joint decision-making for all five Brazilian geographical regions. To this end, a step-by-step multi-group confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA) was applied in order to verify whether this concept can be compared across Brazilian regions. Results show that the DHS items can be used reliably for measuring couples’ joint decision-making and that this construct can be meaningfully compared over the regions. These findings will contribute to further demographic and sociological research on gender relations which can use this concept and other indicators provided by the DHS to identify the causal processes related to it.

Socioeconomic and Cultural Features of Cohabitation in Brazil

Cohabitation among the lower social strata is a well-known practice in Latin America. However, consensual unions are increasing in the region, among higher educated groups and in countries where it was never prevalent, such as in Brazil. This study uses couples’ data from the demographic census (N=183,123) to identify the socioeconomic and cultural features of cohabitation in Brazil. The effect of women’s education, couple’s social class and religion is shown. Through multilevel analysis special attention is paid to the cultural environment where these unions occur. Results indicate that socioeconomic factors differentiate cohabitations in Brazil. While consensual unions are more common among the lower social classes and less educated women, cohabitation is also found among the upper classes, as a childless relationship. The cultural diversity found between Brazilian states is also reflected in nuptial behavior. While significant variance lies at the state level, the ethnic composition of each state partially explains state-level differences.