Families in Upheaval Worldwide

Mothers Are Carrying Increasing Responsibility

By Tamar Lewin
New York Times Service

NEW YORKAround the world, in

rich and poor countries alike, the structure of family life is undergoing pro found changes, a new analysis of research from numerous countries has
concluded.
2 "The idea that the family is a stable
and cohesive unit in which father serves
as economic provider and mother
serves as emotional care giver is a
myth," said Judith Bruce, an author of
the study. "The reality is that trends like
unwed motherhood, rising divorce
rates, smaller households and the feminization of poverty are not unique to
America, but are occurring worldwide."
: The report, "Families in Focus," was
released Tuesday by the Population
Council, an international nonprofit
group based in New York that studies
reproductive health. It analyzed a variety of demographic and household
studies from dozens of countries around
the world.
Among the major findings: -
Whether because of abandonment,
separation, divorce or death of a spouse,
marriages are dissolving with increasing frequency. In many developed
countries, divorce rates doubled between 1970 and 1990, and in less-developed countries, about a quarter of
first marriages end by the time women
are in their 40s.
: Parents in their prime working
years face growing burdens caring for
children, who need to be supported
through more years of education, and
for their own parents, who are living
longer.
: Unwed motherhood is increasingly
common virtually everywhere, reaching as many as a third of all births in
Northern Europe, for example. ~
Children in single-parent households
usually families with only a mother
presentare much more likely to be
poor than those who live with two

parents, largely because of the loss of

support from the fathers.
8 Even in households where fathers
are present, mothers are carrying in
creasing economic responsibility for
children.
9 The idea that families are changing
in similar ways, even in very different
cultures, should bring about new think
ing on social policy, experts say, and
in particular on the role government
should play in supporting families.
10 The Population Council report says
women around the world tend to work
longer hours than men, at home and on
the job.
11 In studies of 17 less-developed coun
tries, women's work hours exceeded
men's by 30 percent. Data from 12 in
dustrialized countries found that for
mally employed women worked about
20 percent longer hours than employed
men.
12 Women's economic contributions
also are becoming increasingly impor
tant.
13 In Ghana, the report said, a third of
households with children are maintained primarily by women.
14 In the Philippines, women were
found to contribute about a third of
households' cash income, but 55 per
cent of household support if the eco
nomic value of their activities at home,
such as gathering wood or growing
food, is included.
15 In the United States, a Louis Harris
survey released earlier this month
found that nearly half of employed
married women contribute half or more
of their family's income.
16 While the reason for entering the
work force may vary from country to
country, women everywhere are find
ing that to give their children an ad
equate life, they must earn more money,
said Ms. Bruce, one of the report's au
thors.
17 "In traditional Bangladesh, it may be
because the husband was much older,
and died while the children were still
young," she said. "In sub-Saharan Af-

rica, a woman might have a baby

premaritally and have no strong connection with the father, or she might
have a husband who goes on to another
polygamous marriage and supports the
children of that union."
18 "In Asia," she added, "the husband
may have migrated for better economic
opportunities and stopped sending
money after a year or two. And every
where, parents are finding that there are
fewer jobs that pay enough to support
a family."
19 Even among rural people in less-de
veloped countries, Ms. Bruce said, the
need for a cash income is becoming
more pressing.
20 "Parents all over the world have an
increasing awareness that their children
will need literacy and numeracy," Ms.
Bruce said. "That means that instead
of having their 6 year old working with
them in the fields, they have to pay for
school fees, uniforms, transportation
and supplies."
21 The fact that many developing coun
tries have cut their spending for public
education as part of their debt-reduc
tion plans creates further pressure on
families, she said.
22 One apparent exception to the gen
eral trends is Japan, where single-par
ent households and unwed motherhood
have remained relatively rare.
2 3 The Population Council report, written by Ms. Bruce, Cynthia B. Lloyd and
Ann Leonard, found that while most
countries have extensive data on
women as mothers, there has been little
research on men as fathers.
24 But studies have found that although
fathers' income usually exceeds moth
ers' income, women usually contrib
ute a larger proportion of their earn
ings to their household, while men keep
more for their personal use.
25 Collectingchildsupportisalsodif
ficult.Amongdivorcedfathers,threequartersinJapan,almosttwo-thirdsin
Argentina,halfinMalaysiaandtwofifthsintheUnitedStatesdonotpay
childsupport,thereportsaid.

News / Features