Familie- en gezinshuishoudingen: hun ontwikkeling in een Spaans berggebied tussen 1950 en 1970

Samenvatting

Modern societies are mainly composed of small nuclear households consisting of one or two parents & their unmarried children. This situation is often judged to be the final phase of a unilinear evolution from a preindustrial situation, characterized by a predominance of large extended households of not only parents & children, including married ones, but also resident kin &/or servants. This judgment needs to be revised. An investigation was conducted in the preindustrial community of Quiroga, a municipio in Spanish Galicia. Patterns of settlement within the municipio as well as differences in relief & infrastructure resulted in considerable differences in relative isolation between different parts of the municipio. The degree of penetration of the modern Ur pattern of culture reflects those differences. The stem family is in the cultural norm. Here are some findings: (1) in 1950, there were 84% nuclear or one-person households, (2) between 1950 & 1970, the number of extended households increased to 35%, (3) this increase was stronger in the area where modernization was strongest (zone I), (4) there is no clear relation between type of household & SS of its head, & (5) extended families have become larger & more heterogeneous. These developments can in part be explained by the effects of a strong out-migration from the area. This applies particularly to changes in the composition of extended households, but it cannot explain the increased frequency of extended households, since it is strongest in the zone of least migration. The phenomenon is explained on the basis of the labor needs of households in this area. The emergence of a worker/peasant structure among the agricultural population of zone I & the hiring difficulties experienced by those engaged in service occupations (shopkeepers, craftsmen) might explain the increasing number of extended households in that area. 5 Tables. Modified HA.