[The link between demographic events: a study of nuptiality patterns]. / La vinculacion de eventos demograficos: un estudio sobre los patrones de nupcialidad.

PIP: The author examines links between the timing of various major life events (including women's age at marriage and the spacing of children) and the economic and urban development of a society, using Mexico as an example. The focus is on marriage patterns. She finds that nuptiality influences rural-urban migration for women, as do age and socioeconomic factors and husband's employment status. Data are from the Mexican Fertility Survey for the period 1976-1977. (SUMMARY IN ENG)^ieng

Breast-feeding determinants in Chile.

PIP: In Chile in low income populations, research shows that the longer infants breast feed the lower the incidence of malnutrition (p.05) in these infants. Yet mothers with 9 years of formal education and often members of the low income group are at the highest risk of giving birth to infants 3000 g who are at highest risk of death. Indeed, it is among these groups that infant malnutrition rates are the highest. Therefore, to reduce infant mortality in these groups, more women should breast feed longer. Other determinants of women choosing to not breast feed or not breast feeding for a long period of time in Chile include work, poor nutritional status, smoking, and poor health team attitudes and practices. To counteract the negative trend in breast feeding and thereby increase the duration of breast feeding in low income mothers in Chile, the Ministry of Health (MOH) initiated its National Program for Breast-feeding Promotion (NPBP) in 1980. The educational component included training primary health care and maternity hospital health teams and distribution of educational brochures to pregnant women. If pregnant women weighed less than what the new 1980 standard recommended, they received nutritional supplements as part of the Supplementary Food Program (SPF). A study revealed that in an area where pregnant mothers received educational materials and support from the health team and food supplements, the proportion of 6 month olds exclusively breast fed rose 61.4% (p.001) in 2 years while it rose 40.7% in the area where only the SPF had been implemented. In Santiago, the percentage of breast fed 3 month olds also increased after introduction of NPBP (46%-63% [1977-1982]). The Ministries of Education and Labor could also contribute to healthier babies by preparing a family life curriculum and sponsoring legislation to extend maternity leave for working mothers.^ieng

[The formation of a new proletariat: working women in Manaus Industrial Section]. / Formacao de um novo proletariado: as operarias do Distrito Industrial de Manaus.

PIP: This study analyzes the process of formation of a female proletariat in the Industrial Section of the Manaus Tax-free Zone, Brazil. The history and personal stories of women who, in a very short time, go from being "riverians" in the Amazon jungle to skilled and semi-skilled assemblers of televisions, videos, and computers in the electronic industry, serve as the basis for studying the effects of the leap in time equal to centuries of civilization that these women accomplish. In following the integration of these women an attempt is made to understand their everyday trajectories in the factory and in the family. This approach allows the identification of the bilateral aspect of changes in the process of adaptation between labor and capital so that one can identify behavioral adjustment in labor relations both by supervisory management and by the workers. Among the author's findings are that 1) family organization does not follow the traditional couple form, but that 2) 2 regularities can nonetheless be identified: the presence of an older woman (mother of the worker) and the weak or non-systemic presence; or even the non-existence of; a man as family support. Fully understanding this family framework and the more independent position of this new type of working woman in Manaus will demand a deeper analysis of the roots of their historical heritage. Up to now that record has been practically unknown.^ieng

[Fifty years of population growth and absorbing manual labor in Brazil, 1950-2000]. / Cinquenta anos de crescimento populacional e absorcao de mao-de-obra no Brasil: de 1950 a 2000.

PIP: The economically active population has grown rapidly in Brazil, resulting either from population growth or increased female participation in the work force. This rhythm of growth will continue at least until the end of this century. The authors suggest that the impact of the recent decline in fertility will be moderate and will only affect the younger age groups. Despite the rapid growth of employment in the processing industry, the relative size of the so-called informal sector has remained stable since 1950. It is further predicted that, given the economically active population's rate of growth and the decrease in employment in agriculture, there will be a great demand for urban employment in the next 20 years.^ieng

Women in migration.

PIP: This special issue reflects the belated but growing scholarly appreciation of the specificity and importance of women in migration. Aside from the sheer numerical significance of female migration documented in this issue, women migrants encounter problems and make special contributions which render comprehension of their specificity critical to an understanding of international migration in general. In an introductory essay, Morokvasic surveys the state of knowledge concerning women in migration. The focus then shifts, in Part II, to regional and national case studies which collectively elucidate the multifaceted dimensions of the women in migration research issue through time and space. In Part III, an international comparison of female immigrants and their labor market characteristics reveals striking similarities but also important differences. The US Canada and Australia can be discretely compared through 5 census-based quantitative analyses. The role of migrant women in the labor market is also the theme of Part IV. But the 5 studies comprising this section are based on survey research or on discernible global trends in migration and employment. Part V is devoted to the theme of female rural to urban migration in the Third World.^ieng

The occupational prestige of women immigrants: a comparison of Cubans and Mexicans.

PIP: This study analyzes the occupational prestige of women workers born in Cuba and Mexico, who were at least 25 years of age at the time of immigration to the US. The empirical results indicate that the process of converting resources (examples, age, schooling, US residence) differ by both sex and nationality, with the Mexican males and females being more similar to each other than to Cubans, and vice versa. Mexicans have a more favorable 'conversion' of resources into prestige, but a lower level of resources. Immigrant women appear to be somewhat more disadvantaged relative to immigrant men, than are women workers in general, and both groups of women enjoy lower occupational prestige than their male counterparts. Unlike the case of male immigrants, US work experience tends to decrease the prestige scores for females. So does southern residence. The pattern of achieving occupational prestige is unique among women immigrants, despite nationality differences. The data suggest that the social mobility process for female immigrants differ from the process for males, perhaps because of cultural barriers that make entry to 'pink collar' jobs difficult. For instance, the widespread segregation of the labor market makes it more difficult for these women than for males to acquire useful information leading to better jobs. Their US experience thus need not be of much value. 2ndly, the existing jobs require immigrant women to learn English or other new skills at their own expense, or to turn their foreign credentials into those acceptable for the US market. Finally, relative concentration in the South may negatively women's occupational prestige, more so than men's. Immigrant women are also handicapped by a view of themselves as 'supplementary earners', and are more apprehensive about job market changes due to an unfamiliarity with American customs. Family responsibilities often hinder immigrant women's upward mobility, locking them into routine jobs with few avenues for advancement.^ieng

The labor market experience of female migrants: the case of temporary Mexican migration to the U.S.

PIP: This article, using a Mexican national survey, provides a profile of temporary Mexican female migrants in the US labor market. The usual association between occupational groups and wage rates does not hold up, with women in unskilled jobs averaging nearly the same wages as while collar women. The dramatic exception is private household workers, who earn less than 1/4 of the wage rates of other women. Although the distribution of wage rates across occupational groups for migrant women is not easily explained by schooling or potential work experience, wage rates seem to be positively correlated with marriage and childrearing. This is partly explained by the fact that married women are more likely to have the option of not working outside the home, and also that the labor market contacts provided by husbands may be helpful in securing more remunerative jobs. Migration networks make the region of origin in Mexico strongly correlate with wage rate variations across occupational groups for women. Although women are found to have more schooling, higher legal status, more US work experience and are more likely to come from regions with well developed migration networks than men, women average upto $7 less per day--a phenomenon largely explained by the labor market segmentation. A lack of legal status constrains women's job opportunities more than men's: over 90% of the women without entry permits are in the low paying private household sector, compared with less than 1/4 of those with some legal status. This connection between lack of proper legal status and low status jobs does not seem to prevent women from migrating illegally--more than 1/2 the women migrant studied had no legal status at all. This study concludes that women do not necessarily follow men in migration, and their labor market functions are quite distinct from those of men.^ieng