Abstract
The importance of kin relationships varies with socioecological demands. Among subsistence agriculturalists, people commonly manage fluctuations in food availability by relying on family members to share resources and pool labor. However, the process of market integration may disrupt these support networks, which may begin to carry costs or liabilities in novel market environments. The current study aims to address (1) how kin are distributed in household support networks (2) how kin support varies as households become more engaged in market activities, and (3) how variation in kin support is associated with income disparities within a Yucatec Maya community undergoing rapid market integration. Using long-term census data combined with social networks and detailed household economic data, we find that household support networks are primarily composed of related households. Second, households engaged predominantly in wage labor rely less on kin support than agricultural or mixed economy households. Finally, kin support is associated with lower household net income and income per capita. Understanding how kin support systems shift over the course of market integration and in the face of new opportunities for social and economic production provides a unique window into the social and economic drivers of human family formation.
Highlights
We aim to address (1) how kin are distributed in household support networks in a community undergoing rapid economic development and market integration, (2) how the role of kin in support networks vary as households become more engaged in market activities, and (3) how variation in kin support networks are associated with increasing wealth disparities within a Yucatec Maya community undergoing rapid market integration
This finding appears consistent with patterns observed in have significantly fewer kin in their household support networks compared to mixedother populations undergoing market transitions, where increasing market integration economy households
The causal question still remains; do low-income households need kin support, or does kin support prevent the accumulation of more income? Our cross-sectional analyses are not suited to determine the direction of causation; we provide a baseline for future longitudinal analyses
Summary
Market integration is associated with a host of socioecological changes that have long been studied in the social sciences. Market integration is associated with a key shift in household production, as new economic opportunities emerge alongside traditional subsistence practices. In these contexts, households face trade-offs in pursuing new social and economic opportunities, or maintaining traditional economic production. Mixed economies arise when households and communities are engaged in both the cash economy and subsistence production and maintain traditional sharing and cooperative relationships
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