Summary Profile--Wives (N=105)
A very slight majority (57.1%) of the wives live in rural settings
and more than half (61%) began their jobs after 1970. Wives work in all
three factories--the majority in Anasco (41.9%), 39% in Rincon and only
19% in Mayaquez.Most own their own homes--70.5%-while the rest of the
wives rent. Households tend to be the middle range size--59% have 4-6
pezrsa while 37.1% have 1-3 persons and only 3.8% have 7 or
Almost three-fourths of these women (72.4%) have two workers in the house-
hold. Wives tend to have less education--41% 8th grade or less; 26.7% have
less than a HS diploma and 32.4% have a HS diploma. Most have their parents
nearby (81.0%), but only 65% have the immediate family close by and 50% have
the extended family nearby.Most see the immediate family every day (84.1%)
and the extended family every day (81.6%). Over half the wives (54.3%)
never see neighbors; only 23.8% see neighbors every day.
Expenses EGo Husb. Both Kids Ps,Os, Ego, E,Ss, Whole
in-laws Kids Os. Ps. Family
Food 18.3 27.9 47.1 0 1.0 0 3.8 1.9 N=104
Housing 21.4 22.3 48.5 0 2.9 0 2.9 1.9 N=103
Electric 23.1 18.3 50.0 0 3.8 0 2.9 1.9 N=104
Furniture 31.4 9.8 52.0 0 2.0 0 2.9 2.0 N=102
Medical 31.6 10.5 52.6 0 1.1 0 2.1 2.1 N= 95
Life Ins. 27.4 8.1 58.1 0 3.2 0 1.6 1.6 N=62
Kids' Ed. 35.0 5.0 56.3 0 1.3 0 0 2.5 N=80
Entertain 28.7 13.8 52.9 0 2.3 0 0 2.3 N=87
Car 21.7 23.9 48.9 1.1 2.2 0 0 2.2 N=92
Summary Note: Wives tend to share expenses with their husbands.
Wives-p.2
Income
5-7,999
8-9,999
10-11,999
12-13,999
Over 14,000
%
9.5
11.4
25.7
1 30.5
S22.9
100.0
N
]0
12
27
32
24
105
Summary Note: Two-income wives' house-
holds have high incomes.
Slightly more than thrPP-frh. nf the wives say their families could not
make it without their incomes. Most wives have no savings at all (68.3%); only
5.8% have savings of more than $1,000 and 26% have savings of less than $1,000.
Debts tend to be high--only 10.7% have no monthly debts; 31.1% owe less than
$99. per month, 41.7% owe between $100-199 per month and 16.5% owe $200 or
more per month in bills.
Well over half (69.5%) of the wives receive no other sources of income;
11.4% receive social security, 13.3% get food stamps and 5.7% say they receive
income from some other source. Over half (57,7%) favor the food stamp program.
Possessions
Telephone
Car
Washing Machine
TV
Stereo
Have
28.6%
87.6
94.3
97.1
71.4
Do Not Have
71.4%
12.4
5.7
2.9
28.6
'\ives-p.3
The majority began working when they were between the ages of 18-20
(50.5%); 23.8% were under 18, 11.4% were between 21-25, and 14.3% began
working over the age of 25. For only 39% was the present job their first
job. The modal salary for wives when they began their present job was
$90. per week or more, Almost half the wives believe conditions have im-
proved in the factory (41); another 29.5% say things have gotten worse
and the remaining 29.5% say there has been no change.
Slightly over half (59%) say they socialize with fellow workers outside
the factory and about half (55.2%) have family members who work in the same
factory with them. Given a choice, the majority of wives would prefer stay-
ing home to working (64.8%), Almost half (46.7%) of them believe a married
woman with kids should stay home and about half of them (46.4%) #kay an
abandoned woman with kids should receive welfare rather than work.
Slightly more than half (53.5%) believe that it is men who are fired first;
28.3% say it is women and 18.2% say it is the same for men and women. A
little over half (58.3%) of the wives believe that unions have improved work
conditions for women. They tend to blame industry for unemployment (54.3%),
government for inflation (48.5%), and industry for the flight of industry
(71.7%).
Wives tend to identify themselves as workingclass (53.3%); 37.1% say
they are middle class and only 9.5% say poor. This notwithstanding, the majority
of wives classify their parents as "_ or" (61.2%; only 14.6% say their parents
are middle class and 24.3% classify their parents as working class. Slightly
Less than half (42.3%) say it is easy to advance in Puerto Rico and half
(50.5%) say it is more difficult to advance now than it uas 5 years ago. The
majority agree (79%) it is easier for them to advance than it was for their parents.
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