Social inequalities and intra household relations in Mexico at the beginning of the XXIth century

Orlandina de Oliveira, El Colegio de México
Marina E. Ariza, Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales (UNAM)

Centering its interest in the dynamics of intra household relations, the present work examines three dimensions of family live relatively less studied from a socio demographic point of view: 1)daily interactions among residential family members; 2) affectivity towards parental figures; 3)interfamily conflictive relations. We analyze the relative importance of three axis of social differentiation (social stratification, gender and age) on these family live dimensions. For understanding the complexity of intra household dynamics we depart from a multidimensional conception of family asymmetries. The paper is divided in three parts. Based on the field of sociology of emotions, the first part discusses the relevance of the three dimensions of daily family live considered. We also describe the indicator used for measuring each dimension, and apply a factor analysis in order to determine how many factors must be included in each dimension. In the second part, based on multiple classification analysis, we examine the impact of the different forms of social inequalities (socioeconomic status, gender and age) on family dynamics, controlling for a set of socio demographic characteristics. Third part summarizes some final considerations. The source of data is the National Survey on the Dynamics of the Family in Mexico, 2005. Among the main results are a greater frequency of family members’ interaction outside the home in the middle and high classes, and a greater perception of extreme violence in the lower strata, although conflictivity is present through the entire social hierarchy. Although gender is not the factor with greatest relative importance, it promotes a greater interaction of women within the home, and a greater perception of extreme violence among them compared to men. Finally, age favors a greater interaction inside the household, diminishes feelings of proximity towards parents and makes more feasible the acceptance of a third person mediating in conflictive situations.