ABSTRACT

This chapter analyzes cases of Guatemalan women who made their own decision to immigrate to the United States. For the purpose of analysis women who took the initiative to immigrate were classified into female heads of households, women in intact marriages and single women. For each category, cases will be discussed to show why women had the power to immigrate independently from spouses and parents and what caused them to immigrate to the United States. Like de facto female heads of households, most de jure female heads of households interviewed in Los Angeles were urban Ladinas. Guatemalan female headed households can be categorized into two types: de jure and de facto headed households. Magdalena was middle-class Ladina who had migrated from the eastern part of the country to Guatemala City. Marital instability and men's problems to provide economically for their families create large numbers of female headed households in urban Latin America, especially among urban Central and South American women.