Households and Income in Mexico and Brazil. Three Generations of Male and Female Adult Heads of Household in Various Institutional Contexts

Abstract

This article describes the socio-economic features of two Latin American countries-Brazil and Mexico-to discover how social actors appropriate the various types of monetary resources present in each society and how these resources are distributed among domestic groups. To this end, the study develops non-traditional indicators for the appropriation of monetary resources related to the positions that individuals from various generations occupy in the home. The comparison of two countries with the largest populations and the highest GDPs in Latin America provides the opportunity for beginning a study of the complex processes of domestic and institutional reproduction developed in each society and the way they are experienced by different generations.