ABSTRACT
To understand changes in the status of women, it is crucial to undertake in-depth studies of gender relations within households in diverse social groups and at specific historical moments. This chapter presents one such study, conducted in 1990 when women's labor force participation was rising, fertility was falling, and economic hardship was still widespread. Studies on the differential contributions of men and women to household income in Mexico indicate that it is no longer possible to consider a priori the woman's contribution as marginal. The woman's contribution covers some of the essential domestic expenditures such as rent and utilities, food, clothing, health care, and children's education. In the family, authority and power is still wielded predominantly by men, but emerging spaces for female power indicate that women's subordination may be changing. In Mexico, both large-sample surveys and studies based on a small number of cases indicate that men and women have differentiated arenas with regard to decision making.
