Family structure and women's work in agriculture: the case of Osona and Baix Emporda

The aim of this article is to analyze labour activities undertaken by women farmers on their family farms. The study encompassed two Catalan comarques (counties), Osona and Baix Emporda, characterized by an agricultural sector oriented towards livestock production. The study stresses that family farms are organized according to and reflect the socially created divisions between men and women, with a clear division of work tasks which are gender-determined. From 152 interviews a typology of families was established in an attempt to determine the relation between family composition and the agrarian dynamics of each production unit. Results demonstrate that the dynamics of such units must be analysed both from an economic perspective and on the basis of the composition of the family that constitutes the labour force of this particular type of agrarian structure. -from English summary