Turismo Rural Comunitario

I n t h e f i r s t i n s t a n c e t h e h ou s eh ol d s were d i v i d e d a c c o r d i n g t o l e v e l s o f w e e k l y i ncome. I n t o Group 1 f e l l 31 h o u s e h o l d s whose a v er a g e w e e k l y income p e r per son was l e s s t h a n 1,000 pesos ( l e s s t h a n ( £ 2 . 5 0 ) ; Group 2 c o n t a i n e d 20 h ou s eh ol d s w i t h i n w hi ch a v er a ge w e e k l y income p e r per son was between 1,000 and 1,599 pesos p e r p er s o n ( £ 2 . 5 0 t o £ 4 ) ; and Group 3 c o n s i s t e d o f 15 h ou se ho l ds where a v er a g e w e e k l y income p e r p er s o n was 1 , 60 0 pesos o r more ( o v e r £ 4 ) . To meet b a s i c c o ns u m p t i o n needs

h o u s e h o l d s needed a minimum w e e k l y income o f 1,000 pesos f o r each member. Househol ds l i k e t h o s e i n Group 1 who were u n a b l e t o g e n e r a t e t h i s amount were t h u s o b l i g e d t o b o r r o w s ma l l amounts o f money t o buy f o o d and were c h r o n i c a l l y i n d e b t . Such f a m i l i e s f r e q u e n t l y r e l i e d on o t h e r f or ms o f a s s i s t a n c e , such as r e g u l a r g i f t s o f maize o r beans f r o m r e l a t i v e s . Group 2 h ou s eh ol d s were a b l e t o meet c o ns u m p t i o n needs and t o e a t a more v a r i e d and abundant d i e t , b u t r i s k e d p e r i o d i c d e b t . A t t h e l e v e l o f t h e t h i r d g r o u p , more s i g n i f i c a n t changes began t o be

d i s c e r n i b l e . Consumpti on l e v e l s were c o n s i s t e n t l y h i g h e r and h i g h e r incomes were r e f l e c t e d i n t h e c o n d i t i o n o f t h e d w e l l i n g i t s e l f , such as i n t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f a new r o o f , t h e i n s t a l l a t i o n o f t i l e d f l o o r s and so o n .

Househol ds i n Groups 1 and 2 - t h e m a j o r i t y - were p o o r i n t h e most g e n e r a l sense and t h e f o r t u n e s o f t h e s e f a m i l i e s v a r i e d a t d i f f e r e n t moments i n t h e i r h i s t o r y , c o r r o b o r a t i n g t h e n o t i o n o f a homogenous, r a t h e r t h a n segmented w o r k i n g c l a s s i n w h i c h s h i f t s i n i ncomes were r e l a t e d t o t h e movement o f t h e d o m e s t i c c y c l e . By t h e same t o k e n , t h e h i g h e r incomes o f t h e Group 3 h o u s e h o l d s d i d n o t n e c e s s a r i l y i n d i c a t e a f u n d am e nt a l t r a n s f o r m a t i o n , w i t h t h e s e h o u s e h o l d s movi ng upward t o a d i f f e r e n t s o c i a l c l a s s . R a t h e r , t h e a c t i v i t i e s o f members o f Group 3 h ou s e h o l d s s e r v ed t o i l l u s t r a t e what k i n d s o f h o u s e h o l d s were a b l e t o i n c r e a s e l e v e l s o f income and c o n s u m p t i o n , what k i n d s o f work

I n May 1985 t h e r e were a p p r o x i m a t e l y 400 pesos t o t h e £ s t e r l i n g . The minimum d a i l y wage was $860, and a s i x - d a y week wo ul d g e n e r a t e 5 , 16 0 p e s o s, o r £ 1 3 . 0 0 .

t h e y d i d , and what o t h e r f a c t o r s had i n f l u e n c e d t h e i r a b i l i t y t o i mp ro ve t h e i r economi c p o s i t i o n . The d i f f e r e n c e s between t h e t h r e e g ro up s d i d n o t t h e r e f o r e d e f i n e d i s t i n c t economic c a t e g o r i e s b u t were used

h e u r i s t i c a l l y , t o i d e n t i f y t h e e le me nt s a f f e c t i n g t h e economic w e l f a r e o f d i f f e r e n t k i n d s o f h o u s e h o l d s .

The h o u s e ho l d s were t h e n o r g a n i z e d i n t o g ro up s a c c o r d i n g t o t h e phase o f t h e d o m e s t i c c y c l e t h e y had reached (see T a b l e 1 5 ) . Three phases were i d e n t i f i e d : emergent h o u s e ho l d s were t h o s e f or med between 1980 and 1985; e x pa n di n g h ou s eh ol d s had been f or med between 1960 and 1979; and c o n s o l i d a t e d h ou se ho l ds b e f o r e 1959.^ E xpandi ng h o u s e h o l d s made up t h e m a j o r i t y o f a l l h ou s eh ol d s (59 p e r c e n t ) , and w e l l o v e r h a l f o f t h e e x p a n d i n g h ou s eh ol d s were c o n c e n t r a t e d w i t h i n t h e p o o r e s t Group 1

(see T a b l e 1 5 ) . As p r e d i c t e d by t h e d o m e s t i c c y c l e m o d el , i n such

h o u s e h o l d s t h e r e were l a r g e number o f young c h i l d r e n who were e i t h e r t o o young t o work o r were engaged i n low p a y i n g a c t i v i t i e s , such as w e av i ng and r u n n i n g e r r a n d s as z o r r a s de h u a r a c h e . Doha T e r e s a ' s e x p a n d i n g h o u s e h o l d , wh i c h f e l l i n t o Group 1, p r o v i d e s one such e xam pl e:

T e re s a 's household

Doha Te re sa and h e r husband F e d e r i c o were m a r r i e d i n 1961 and l i v e d f o r f i v e y e a r s w i t h F e d e r i c o ' s p a r e n t s b e f o r e movi ng t o a s e p a r a t e d w e l l i n g i n h e r i t e d f r o m them i n 1966. Teresa and F e d e r i c o had 11 c h i l d r e n . Two o f

I n i t i a l l y a " d i s p e r s i o n " phase was d e f i n e d f o r h o u s e h o l d s f or med b e f o r e 1939. However, t h e r e were o n l y two such h o u s e h o l d s i n t h e s u r v e y and t h e i r c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s were i d e n t i c a l t o t h o s e o f t h e c o n s o l i d a t e d h o u s e h o l d s , so t h e y were a s s i m i l a t e d i n t o t h i s g r o u p . I n g e n e r a l , t h e d a t e o f m a r r i a g e was used t o d e f i n e phase o f t h e d o m e s t i c c y c l e ,

a l t h o u g h t h i s d i d n o t n e c e s s a r i l y c o i n c i d e w i t h f o r m a t i o n o f a s e p a r a t e h o u s e h o l d . Date o f m a r r i a g e a l s o d e f i n e d phase o f t h e c y c l e w h e r e: a) a c o u p l e l i v e d w i t h an o l d e r r e l a t i v e , such as a m o t h e r - i n - l a w ; o r b) where t h e h ou s eh ol d had become f e m a l e - h e a d e d a f t e r t h e husband had l e f t home. Where u n m a r r i e d women headed h o u s e h o l d s , t h e d a t e o f f o r m a t i o n was d e f i n e d as t h e moment when t h e woman t o o k o v e r t h e r u n n i n g o f t h e

h ou s e h o l d b ud g et ( u s u a l l y a f t e r h e r p a r e n t s had d i e d ) . F o r e x te n d e d h o u s e h o l d s , phase i n t h e c y c l e was d e f i n e d by t h e m a r r i a g e d a t e o f t h e c o u p l e who p l a y e d t h e c e n t r a l r o l e i n o r g a n i z i n g and managi ng t h e h o u s e h o l d .

them - b o t h male - had l e f t home and were l i v i n g i n Los A ng el es and an e l d e r d a u g h t e r l i v e d w i t h h e r husband i n Sahuayo. Of t h e r e m a i n i n g e i g h t c h i l d r e n t h e e l d e s t was 16 and t h e y o u n g e s t e i g h t m on th s.

F e d e r i c o had worked i n sombrero workshops s i n c e 1960 and i n 1985 was e a r n i n g j u s t o v e r 6 , 0 0 0 pesos (£15) each week. He c o n t r i b u t e d 1,5 00

( £ 3 . 7 5 ) pesos t o t h e h ou s eh ol d k i t t y . ^ Doha T er es a had l e a r n e d how t o weave hua ra ch e a f t e r m a r r i a g e and had c o n t i n u e d t o wo rk as an

e n c o r r e l 1 a do r a e v e r s i n c e t h e n , w eav ing s a n d a l s f o r h e r b r o t h e r - i n - l a w . I n 1985 she c o n t r i b u t e d 2 , 50 0 pesos ( £ 6 . 2 5 ) t o t h e h o u s e h o l d b u d g e t . Two o t h e r d a u g h t e r s , a 1 6 - y e a r - o l d and a 1 3 - y e a r - o l d , wove h ua ra ch e and ear ne d between 1,000 ( £ 2 . 5 0 ) and 2 , 0 0 0 (£5) pesos a week. They made no