Soledad - History Lab

Solitary households in inland Spain in 1753 (%)

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

Headship has always been a subject of attention in social science. It determines family patterns, behaviour and policies. In the Spain of 1753, we can see how, in general, women were the head of the family under the parameters of widowhood. From the age of 50 onwards, there was an increase in single-person households headed by women, an upward trend that continued after the age of 65. With the departure of the children from the family and the death of the husband, the woman found her authority in herself, showing more preference for loneliness than for remarriage as long as she could support herself economically.

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Family Structures in the Kingdom of Valencia, 18th-19th Centuries

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

The different family models had regional and local variables. In the latter case, we find the examples of the municipalities of the current Valencian Community. By differentiating between urban and rural areas, we can see how solitary households were greater in the cities than in the countryside, and consequently, and inversely, complex households were more common in rural areas than in urban areas. The established confluence of the conjugal/nuclear family model meant that they dominated in both spheres with similar percentages. These data are reinforced when a semi-urban population, between the countryside and the city, such as Vinaròs, shows an intermediate trend in its results. Valencian families, as in the rest of Spain, were conditioned by the economic level and mentality of the localities. Wealth, property ownership, access to resources and the possibility of social advancement shaped the family model.

The post Family Structures in the Kingdom of Valencia, 18th-19th Centuries 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.