Household Structure and Social Stratification: Evidence from a Latin American City

Abstract

In this paper, it is argued that past research on family structure and stratification processes affectingfamily members has obscured, both theoretically and empirically, the distinction between the achievement ofsocioeconomic status and social mobility. Certain methodological weaknesses of approaches to these issues which define mobility as the difference in social position between parent and child are discussed. Blau's and Duncan's (1967) model of the occupational achievement process in the United States is suggested as aframework, which avoids the pitfalls of past work, for use in analyzing the relationship between family type and mobility. Data on household structure and the educational and occupational patterns of a sample of male household heads in Santiago, Chile in 1960 are used to replicate their model and determine the role of household type in this system of variables. The data reveal no relationship between status and household composition, although evidence is produced which is consistent with the view that members of extended households should be less mobile. Specifically, the data suggest that ascriptive factors (father's occupation and father's education) are more influential determinants of the statuses attained by men from extended family households, whereas achievement factors (education and early job status) are more influential with regard to men from nuclear households.