Cabeza de familia - History Lab

Life cycle and widowhood in inland Spain in 1753

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:31 +0000

The graph shows the life cycle of widows. It shows that their proportion peaks between the ages of 50 and 60 with 27.2%. This remains stable at around 25.7% in the next decade of their lives, between 60 and 70. This is not the case from the age of 70 onwards, when mortality increases considerably, leading to a downward trend. In comparison, the life cycle of widowers evolves in a similar way, although at later ages we observe how they tended to be more lonely than women, a behaviour that can be explained by the fact that mothers, more than fathers, would go on to live with their children.

The post Life cycle and widowhood in inland Spain in 1753 first appeared on History Lab.

Women Heads of Households in Spain. 18th century

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:46 +0000

Female spinsterhood during the eighteenth century was an exception to the moral norms of the time, where marriage signified the central axis of the individual’s life cycle. Nevertheless, a series of negative connotations were attributed to unmarried women because of their economic independence, managing their patrimony in solitude and developing a life without the authority of a male figure. With respect to households as a whole, 20.38% of the heads of household in the sample represented were women. Broken down, the majority of female heads of household were widows, accounting for 16.66%, while single women accounted for 3% of the total number of heads of household; married women accounted for 0.7%. In terms of female representation, single female heads of household accounted for 14.7%, while widows accounted for 81.74%.

The post Women Heads of Households in Spain. 18th century first appeared on History Lab.

Female-headed households. Spain. 18th century

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:46 +0000

In central-southern Castile, the nuclear family predominated and exceeded 80% of the family nuclei. With the departure of this traditional model in the absence of the parents, unstructured households were generated in which single siblings and relatives lived together; on the other hand, complex or extended households in which family members cohabited in the same nucleus together with uncles, nephews, nieces or servants. Loneliness linked to the family nucleus and residence was related to middle-aged women being single, but the existence of young women who lived alone due to the loss of one of their parents was also observed. In Jaén, one in three single women lived alone (32.10%). When they did not live their lives alone, one in four headed unstructured households in which they took care of their younger siblings and/or nieces and nephews. In single-parent households, the extended family model predominated, which occurred when a close relative was integrated into the family nucleus through solidarity networks (35.37%). In turn, 6.77% of those of middle or old age remained living together with their parents in a nuclear model.

The post Female-headed households. Spain. 18th century first appeared on History Lab.

Family groupings in Spain during the Ancient Regime: occupations

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:46 +0000

In the Ancien Régime, welfare policies were carried out through hospitals, asylum centres and ecclesiastical bodies, among others, which meant that the individual was often unprotected. Therefore, in times of family crisis, mainly in rural areas, the maintenance of family networks of mutual help among women became a fundamental element for survival, especially in the absence of optimal economic conditions; their well-being was conditioned by interpersonal and intergenerational relationships. Servitude in the household included servants who worked in the house itself, but also servants who worked in the fields. The presence of farm labourers, grooms and farmhands in the pastures of the south of the Iberian Peninsula was common throughout the year. Although the main demand for domestic service was in cities and large towns, or agro-cities, servitude was one of the most common features of the rural labour system. Servants were found in the homes of farm and wealthy women. In addition to this, servants were present in the households of those for whom no occupation was indicated, but who had enough rustic wealth to suggest that they were wealthy.

The post Family groupings in Spain during the Ancient Regime: occupations first appeared on History Lab.

Raised in Ciudad Real in 1751

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:33 +0000

The table presented reflects the number and percentage of heads of households who have servants in their service, as well as the typology of the servants. The relationship between both factors, masters and servants, is determined by the socio-economic structure of the territory. Thus, in Ciudad Real, which had a strong agrarian oligarchy, the number of servants per head of household was high, even more so among the wealthy strata of local society. Analysing the data, 61.3% of the servants in Ciudad Real depended on perpetual offices and hidalgos in 1751. In total, of the 50 heads of privileged families, the servant servants numbered 55 and the servant maids 75, showing a preference for females in domestic tasks. On the other hand, the labour and livestock servants numbered 156 and 363 respectively, the vast majority of whom were male. On average, there were 13 servants per wealthy family. The situation of many workers was one of dependence on the master; even more so if we consider the servants in service (the typical profile was female, orphaned, single and young).

The post Raised in Ciudad Real in 1751 first appeared on History Lab.

Structure of female-headed households in inland Spain in 1753 (%)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:27 +0000

The structure of female-headed households in inland Spain reveals that the dominant family model was the nuclear one (consisting of parents and children), with 81% of the cases. Those living alone were the second largest group with 10.4% of cases. The rest of the family models did not reach 5%. Among the groups that stand out most, nuclear and solitary, we observe a tendency towards solitude from the residential point of view: the vast majority of widows who headed the household and who lived with their children accounted for 61.3% of the cases, a figure that will decrease as the children grow up and emancipate from the family group.

The post Structure of female-headed households in inland Spain in 1753 (%) first appeared on History Lab.

Evolution of female leadership in the town of Albacete, 1787-1880

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:27 +0000

The evolution in the city of Albacete of the marital status of the female head of household remained almost unchanged between 1787 and 1880. This structural stability reveals how family models and social customs were perpetuated after the transition from the Ancien Régime to the liberal political society. Female heads of household remained between 17% and 19% of the total number of families, with widows accounting for 82.3% of the female cases. The data show that family loneliness had a woman’s name; the condition of widows emancipated them from male guardianship.

The post Evolution of female leadership in the town of Albacete, 1787-1880 first appeared on History Lab.

Female heads of household in inland Spain in 1753 (%)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:27 +0000

To speak of female heads of household in inland Spain is to speak of widowhood. Only a tenth were single and their number decreased even more from the age of 50 onwards. Women over 50 accounted for 60 percent of female-headed households, compared to 30 percent of men at the same age. This difference, apart from the higher male mortality rate, reflected to a large extent the unequal behaviour of the sexes when it came to remarriage.

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The post Female heads of household in inland Spain in 1753 (%) first appeared on History Lab.