Families on the Verge of Breakdown? Views on Contemporary Trends in Family Life in Guanacaste, Costa Rica

Abstract

As in many other countries, family life in Costa Rica has changed in recent decades. Marriage is declining, divorce and separation are on the rise, out-of-wedlock births are increasing, and women head a growing number and proportion of households. Nationally and internationally, statements issued by the media, government bodies and the religious establishment indicate that these trends have provoked anxiety about “family breakdown.” Yet it is less well known if similar concerns are felt at the grassroots. The present paper explores reactions to family change among 176 low-and middle-income women and men from different age groups in Guanacaste province, northwest Costa Rica. A key finding is that although some trajectories in family life are perceived as encompassing possibilities for new, more flexible and egalitarian domestic arrangements, others are regarded as weakening family unity. Moreover, concerns about “family breakdown” are more common among adult males than their female counterparts or younger people. The reasons behind these disparate views relate to social, legal, and economic processes that have destabilized “traditional” gendered divisions of labor, power, and rights within Costa Rican households.