ABSTRACT
A campaign was started to attract the type of American electronics industry, and the availability of a large reservoir of cheap female labor was strongly emphasized as one of the attractions. Industrialization brought with it the end of agriculture and crafts in which women had played an important role. For many female-headed households in the 1960’s and 1970’s the old-age pension of a living-in maternal grandmother was the only income that could be counted on, since the earnings of most women were irregular and unpredictable. As for family life, the proportion of female-headed households increased in the 1970’s and remained stable in the 1980’s due to the fact that many of the women felt that they had no options in Curacao and migrated to the Netherlands. Female ministers are no longer exceptional, and the present prime minister, Maria Liberia, is a distinguished senior politician who has already served twice before in the same position.
