Legalization of consensual unions in Latin America.

Abstract

In Latin America, socially sanctioned conjugal unions take 2 forms: legal marriage and consensual unions. While legal marriage is more prestigious, consensual unions offer practical advantages. An examination of the legalization of consensual unions in rural areas in Colombia, Peru, Costa Rica, and Mexico is undertaken using data from the 1969 Centro Latinoamericano de Demografia's (CELADE) comparative survey of fertility. The survey in each country is based on a self weighted sample of 2000-3000 women aged 15-49 living in areas with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants. The union histories addressed types of unions, duration, and age and date of onset and of termination. The samples consisted of 881 unions in Colombia, 646 in Costa Rica, 865 in Mexico, and 1009 in Peru. The risk of legalization was measured by life table procedures, using only single decrement values for comparisons among subgroups. Between 32-41% of the unions are consensual in the rural areas of these countries. With the exception of Peru, consensual unions are higher among 2nd and later unions than among 1st unions. As expected from previous studies, they are more prevalent among younger women, those without education and among non-Catholics or non-practicing Catholics. About 30% of the consensual unions become legalized in Colombia, Costa Rica, and Mexico, and in Peru the rate of conversion is about 50%. Less than 20% in Colombia and Peru remain intact for more than 25 years; about 25% are terminated within the 1st 2 years. The single decrement values suggest that in the absence of separation or death of a partner, almost 50% of the unions would eventually be legalized in Colombia, Costa Rica, and Mexico, about 65% in Peru. The probability of conversion is highest among women in their 1st union and in the 1st year. Only 2-8% of the women legalize higher order unions. Of the factors related to the probability of legalization, age is an important differential in Costa Rica, education in Mexico, and religious observance in Colombia, Costa Rica, and Peru. The occurrence of a pregnancy does not substantially increase the frequency of legalization. This may be due to the absence of social disapproval of illegitimate children. In all 4 countries, marriages preceded by a period of cohabitation were less likely to end in separation. The higher age at marriage for couples who lived together before marriage explains some of the greater stability. The results do not support the widely held assumption that legalization occurs to legitimize births. Education and age are factors that account for some difference in frequency. Because the analysis is restricted to rural areas, additional research is needed to illuminate relationships in urban areas.