[Women, development and population in Latin America]

Women's situation as defined according to cultural factors which are present both in the division of labor by sex and in the power relationships, has its own specificities in the different social groups of a society. This happens for material reasons as well as because prevalent ideologies vary, among the different groups, from very traditional models of sexual roles to others which allow a greater flexibility in these roles. The consequences are reflected in the reproductive behavior. A woman's social insertion affects her specific situation, through a set of closely related variables: the educational opportunities, the quantity and characteristics of the domestic work they must carry out and the opportunities to participate in paid work. These variables influence demographic behavior through the age at 1st marriage, infant mortality, the values assigned to children and the capacity of taking reproductive decisions. In order to improve the situation of poorer women it is necessary that the economic, social and cultural development give special benefits to that sector, greater educational opportunities which could lead to possibilities of stable and well remunerated work. In these conditions women could achieve a greater self-determination to establish more equitable conjugal relationships and to decide with more freedom the number of their children.