Transition to Adulthood of Mexican Women. Family Transitions

Guadalupe Fabiola Perez Baleon, El Colegio de México

The study focused on examining the ages at which the first sexual relation, the first marital union and the first pregnancy took place and comparing them to socio-demographical variables at the time of each transition. The theoretical framework for the study was that of Life-course approach. Life tables and Cox´s models were created to analyse the context of each transition. Results show early median ages in each transition. The results allow us to affirm that the woman is still being educated to initiate her sexual, conjugal and reproductive life at earlier ages, which conjugates with the lack of opportunities of development and social recognition outside the family and with the construction of what a woman should be and do, that is getting married and having kid at earlier age. This limits the life options for the women in different fields as the familiar, such as the academic and labor field.