ABSTRACT
This chapter examines marital, fertility, and familial dimensions of Mexico Megacity. The dimensions of marriage, fertility, and family are brought together through a cluster analysis of Urbanism/Familism. Fertility has decreased in Mexico Megacity since 1960. Free union, sometimes called common law marriage, has been prevalent in Mexico for generations. The urbanism/familism variable group consists of cumulative fertility to women age 20-29, percent of persons in a free union, percent separated and divorced, and the ratio of women economically active. Separation is not correlated with the other urbanism/familism variables nor with the selected socioeconomic ones. Marriage and separation are much less correlated with socioeconomic dimensions. This may be due to local marriage customs within the Megacity creating unique geographical patterns. The age structure explains differences between crude and cumulative fertility patterns, since cumulative fertility encompasses age. The crude fertility rates for the decades of the 50s, 60s, and 70s reveal consistent spatial patterns even though the crude fertility rate dropped substantially.
