Consensual Unions in Latin America: Persistence of a Dual Nuptiality System
Author(s)
Martin, Teresa Castro
Abstract
Family formation patterns have undergone significant transformations in the past decades. Among recent trends, the rise in cohabitation has attracted particular attention in the demographic and sociological literature. Most studies have focused on Western societies, hence the prevailing tendency to regard cohabitation as an outcome of the modernization process. Its increase has generally been linked to the search for personal autonomy and diminishing acceptability of institutional regulation in the sphere of family life that have driven the “second demographic transition”. But consensual unions are not exclusive to the developed world. Their prevalence is high in many developing regions, such as Latin America and the Caribbean, and some parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Moreover, the social meaning attached to these unions as well as their historical, socioeconomic and cultural roots differ largely from those observed in the developed world.
