3. Consensual and Legal Marital Unions in Costa Rica

Abstract

In a Costa Rican study comparing fertility levels of women living in consensual unions with those living in legal unions no relationship was observed between fertility and the type of union. This finding differed from the findings obtained in a number of previous investigations conducted in several Caribbean and Latin American countries. In these investigations consensual unions were observed to have a depressing effect on fertility. These studies were conducted among population groups which tended to be characterized by a shortage of males. Perhaps the shortage of males was responsible for both the large number of consensual unions as well as the reduced fertility levels. The data used in the present analysis was derived from interviews conducted with 295 couples living in consensual unions and 985 couples living in legal unions. More than 3/4 of the respondents were white a little less than 1/4 were Indian and only a few were black. Information was collected on a number of socioeconomic and psychological variables as well as on family planning knowledge and attitudes. Women in consensual and legal unions were similar in terms of the number of live births and conceptions they had experienced. They did differ however on a number of other variables which were indicative of social class differences. Women in consensual unions exhibited traits generally associated with lower class status. In order to determine whether social class differences were masking a depressing effect of consensual unions on fertility fertility levels between the 2 union groups were compared while controlling for social class differences. Even when social class was controlled no significant difference was observed in the fertility levels of the 2 groups. Tables provide data on: 1) % distribution of respondents on 27 selected variables by type of union; and 2) the results of the correlation analysis.