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Understanding the State Regulation of Fatherhood in Latin America: Complementary versus Co-responsible
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 August 2021
Abstract
Fatherhood is a key but missing component of research on welfare regimes. What do states formally demand from fatherhood across Latin America? Using a novel data set of coded legal and policy provisions for 19 Latin American countries, this article offers a conceptual framework to examine state interventions targeting biological, caregiving and breadwinning dimensions of fatherhood. My findings show that, regardless of how robust their social policies are, most countries presume fatherhood to be complementary rather than co-responsible to motherhood. By making a conceptual, empirical and practical contribution to studying the state regulation of fatherhood, this article contributes to a more comprehensive view of welfare regimes.
Spanish abstract
La paternidad es un componente clave pero faltante en la investigación sobre regímenes de bienestar. ¿Qué es lo que los Estados demandan formalmente de la paternidad a lo largo de Latinoamérica? Utilizando una base de datos novedosa que codificada las distintas provisiones legales y de políticas de 19 países latinoamericanos, este artículo ofrece un marco conceptual para examinar las intervenciones estatales relacionadas con las dimensiones biológicas, de cuidado y de sostenimiento familiar de la paternidad. Mis hallazgos muestran que, independientemente de qué tan robustas son sus políticas, la mayoría de los países presume que la paternidad es complementaria en vez de corresponsable con la maternidad. Al hacer una contribución conceptual, empírica y práctica para estudiar la regulación estatal sobre la paternidad, este artículo contribuye a una visión más exhaustiva del estado de bienestar.
Portuguese abstract
A paternidade é um componente chave, mas ausente, das pesquisas sobre regimes de bem-estar social. O que os Estados exigem formalmente da paternidade em toda a América Latina? Usando um novo conjunto de dados de disposições legais e políticas para dezenove países latino-americanos, este artigo oferece uma estrutura conceitual para examinar as intervenções estatais voltadas para as dimensões biológicas, de cuidado e de sustento da paternidade. Os resultados mostram que, independentemente da robustez de suas políticas sociais, a maioria dos países presume que a paternidade seja complementar em vez de corresponsável pela maternidade. Ao fazer uma contribuição conceitual, empírica e prática para estudar a regulação estatal da paternidade, este artigo contribui para uma visão mais abrangente do bem-estar social.
Keywords
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- Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press
References
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26 Asamblea Legislativa de Costa Rica, Ley de Paternidad Responsable (Responsible Paternity Law), no. 8101, 27 April 2001.
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I cite three comparative pieces here; however, the literature on leave is vast and growing. This is particularly the case in countries that have experienced change (e.g., for Uruguay, Karina Batthyány, Natalia Genta, Valentina Perrotta and Sol Scavino, ‘Nuevas políticas de cuidado y persistentes desigualdades de género: Análisis de las licencias por maternidad, paternidad y parentales’, El Uruguay desde la Sociología, 16 (2018), pp. 103–20; for Chile, Carina Lupica, Corresponsabilidad de los cuidados y autonomía económica de las mujeres: Lecciones aprendidas del Permiso Postnatal Parental en Chile (Santiago: CEPAL, 2015)).
36 ILO, Maternity and Paternity at Work: Law and Practice across the World (Geneva: ILO, 2014), available from https://www.ilo.org/global/publications/ilo-bookstore/order-online/books/WCMS_242615/lang--en/index.htm (last accessed 27 Feb. 2021).
37 In Cuba, either parent can take the leave up until the child is one year old. As of 2011, Chilean fathers can use up to six of the last twelve weeks of postnatal leave. As of 2013, Uruguayan mothers or fathers can work half-days after the eight-week maternity leave ends until the child is six months old.
38 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), ‘Parental Leaves: Where are the Fathers?’ Policy brief, March 2016, available at http://www.oecd.org/policy-briefs/bydate/7/ (last accessed 27 Feb. 2021).
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40 Elizabeth S. Scott, ‘Pluralism, Parental Preference, and Child Custody’, California Law Review, 80: 3 (1992), pp. 615–72.
41 UN Women, El progreso de las mujeres en América Latina y el Caribe 2017 (Panama City: UNW, 2017).
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43 Ibid.; Fabiola Lathrop, ‘La corresponsabilidad parental’, in Estudios de derecho civil. Sextas Jornadas de Derecho Civil, Olmué (Santiago: Legal Publishing, 2009), pp. 209–13; Marisa Herrera and Fabiola Lathrop, ‘Parental Responsibility: A Comparative Study of Latin American Legislation’, International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, 30: 3 (2016), pp. 274–91.
44 Morris Ploscowe, ‘Alimony’, The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science: Progress in Family Law, 383: 1 (1969), pp. 13–22.
45 Marisa Bucheli and Wanda Cabella, ‘El incumplimiento en el pago de las pensiones alimenticias, el bienestar de los hogares y el contexto legal vigente en Uruguay’, Revista Latinoamericana de Población, 3: 4–5 (2009), pp. 123–42; Laura Cuesta and Daniel R. Meyer, ‘Child Support Receipt: Does Context Matter? A Comparative Analysis of Colombia and the United States’, Children and Youth Services Review, 34: 9 (2012), pp. 1876–83.
The literature refers to this parent as an absent, noncustodial and/or non-resident father. The first is misleading because it conflates parents’ residence with their absence. The second relies on a legal status that may or may not be in place. The third is more descriptive of the actual situation of children and parents who do not live on a day-to-day basis under the same roof.
46 There is not a lot of research on child support globally. Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, certain Nordic countries and some Latin American countries are among the most studied. For a characterisation of schemes among OECD countries, see OECD Family Database, ‘PF1.5: Child Support’ (2010), available from https://www.oecd.org/els/family/41920285.pdf (last accessed 27 Feb. 2021).
47 Ibid.
48 Marisa Bucheli and Andrea Vigorito, ‘Separation, Child-Support and Well-Being in Uruguay’, Serie Documentos de Trabajo, Instituto de Economía, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Administración, Universidad de la República, Uruguay, 2017; Cuesta, Laura and Meyer, Daniel, ‘The Role of Child Support in the Economic Wellbeing of Custodial-Mother Families in Less Developed Countries: The Case of Colombia’, International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, 28: 1 (2014), pp. 60–76CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
49 In terms of the conceptualisation of the maternalist vs. co-responsibility policy I am drawing on previous work with Merike Blofield, but expand on this by including family law. See Blofield, Merike and Franzoni, Juliana Martínez, ‘Maternalism, Co-responsibility, and Social Equity: A Typology of Work–Family Policies’, Social Politics, 22: 1 (2015), pp. 38–59CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
50 Note that ‘co-responsibility’ is a term often used in the context of neoliberal statecraft to refer to the sharing of responsibility between the individual and the state. However, in the context of childrearing, it refers to the equal sharing of responsibilities between mothers and fathers. This concept is used not only in legal frameworks (e.g. Chile), but also in care policies (e.g. Uruguay) and policy recommendations.
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53 In either case, the law allows for exceptions (e.g. history of domestic violence) to ensure children's safety first and foremost.
54 Filgueira, Cohesión; Evelyne Huber and John D. Stephens, Democracy and the Left: Inequality and Social Policy in Latin America (Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2012); Alex Segura-Ubiergo, The Political Economy of the Welfare State in Latin America: Globalization, Democracy, and Development (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007).
55 Fernando Filgueira, ‘El nuevo modelo de prestaciones sociales en América Latina: Eficiencia, residualismo y ciudadanía estratificada’, in Bryan Roberts (ed.), Ciudadanía y política social (San José: FLACSO, 1998), pp. 71–116.
56 Database of Labor Statistics (LABORSTA): http://www.ilo.org/employment/Informationresources/Statistics/lang--en/index.htm; Key Indicators of the Labour Market (KILM): https://www.ilo.org/empelm/pubs/WCMS_114060/lang--en/index.htm; ILO Legal Databases (TRAVAIL): https://www.ilo.org/dyn/travail/travmain.home.
57 ILO, Maternity and Paternity, as updated by Salvador et al., Maternidad en el empleo.
58 See note 26.
59 Unlike legal reforms in other countries, the 2008 Bolivian Constitution is gender neutral regarding this matter.
60 Ministerio de Justicia (Chile), Ley no. 20.030: Modifica el código civil, en lo relativo a la exigencia de presentación de antecedentes para dar curso a la demanda de reclamación de maternidad o paternidad, y a la valoración de los medios de prueba sobre el particular, Diario Oficial de la Republica de Chile, 5 July 2005.
61 Guatemala: Congreso, Decreto no. 39-2008: Reforma el Código Civil, respecto a la admisión de la prueba biológica del Ácido Desoxirribonucleico – ADN, Diario de Centro América, 22 Aug. 2008; Peru: Congreso de la República, Ley no. 30628: Ley que modifica el proceso de filiación judicial de paternidad extramatrimonial, Diario Oficial del Bicentenario. El Peruano, 3 Aug. 2017.
62 Brazil: Presidência da República, Casa Civil, Subchefia para Assuntos Jurídicos, Lei no. 12004: Altera a Lei no. 8.560, de 29 de dezembro de 1992, que regula a investigação de paternidade dos filhos havidos fora do casamento e dá outras providências, Diário da Justiça, 29 July 2009; Dominican Republic: Congreso, Ley 136-03, Código para el Sistema de Protección y los Derechos Fundamentales de Niños, Niñas y Adolescentes, Arts. 59, 179, 180, 7 Aug. 2003.
63 Asamblea Legislativa de Costa Rica, Reforma del artículo 35 de la Ley no. 5476, Código de Familia, de 21 de diciembre de 1973, Expediente no. 21.296 (Reform of Article 35 of Law no. 5476, Family Code, of 21 Dec. 1973, Proceedings no. 21,296), 8 Oct. 2019.
64 In Uruguay, parents can work part time from the end of maternity leave until the child is six months old. Fathers are permitted to take parental leave: República Oriental del Uruguay, Poder Legislativo, Ley No. 19.161, Subsidios por maternidad y por paternidad para trabajadores de la actividad privada, Diario Oficial, no. 28844, 15 Nov. 2013. In Chile, a 2011 reform granted fathers the option to use up to half the final three months of birth leave: Ministerio de Justicia (Chile), Ley no. 20.545: Modifica las normas sobre protección a la maternidad e incorpora el permiso postnatal parental, 17 Oct. 2011, https://www.bcn.cl/leychile/navegar?idNorma=1030936 (last accessed 9 March 2021). In Cuba, fathers or other family members (usually grandmothers or other women in the family) are eligible to take parental leave. Meanwhile, mothers can return to work while families receive both sources of income (from the mother's work and from parental leave): Cuba, Consejo de Estado, Decreto Ley No. 339. De la maternidad de la trabajadora, Gaceta Oficial, no. 7 Extraordinaria, 10 Feb. 2017.
65 Ministerio de Justicia (Chile), Ley no. 20.680: Introduce modificaciones al código civil y a otros cuerpos legales, con el objeto de proteger la integridad del menor en caso de que sus padres vivan separados, Diario Oficial de la Republica de Chile, 21 June 2013.
66 In addition, judges consider the parents’ attitude towards each other: see discussion of Articles 225 and 225b in Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile, Historia de la Ley no. 20.680 (History of Law no. 20,680), 2012, available from https://www.bcn.cl/historiadelaley/nc/historia-de-la-ley/4280/ (last accessed 27 Feb. 2021).
67 Corte Suprema de Justicia de la República de Colombia (Colombian Supreme Court of Justice), Case no. STC 12085-2018, 18 Sep. 2018, available from https://www.icbf.gov.co/cargues/avance/docs/csj_scc_stc12085-2018_[2018-00188-01]_2018.htm (last accessed 5 March 2021).
68 El Congreso de Colombia, Código Sustantivo del Trabajo (Substantive Labour Code), 2011, Art. 236.