Fatherless Costa Rica: Child Acknowledgment and Support Among Lone Mothers

Abstract

Much debate is going on in Costa Rica about the increase of out-of-wedlock births and unestablished paternity in particular with regard to the elaboration of social policy measures. No systematic empirical data on the issue has been available to date, leaving the various discourses in public without foundation. Our work contributes to this gap in knowledge. Data and methodology: Using representative data sets we outline the national situation. A qualitative study based on 140 qualitative in-depth interviews with lone mothers in various cultural settings within Costa Rica offers a “grass-roots” view of the issue. Results: A macro-level analysis of official data shows 49% of births in 1998 were non-marital ones and that the proportion of births with unestablished paternity accounts for more than one quarter (28%) of the children. The rise in births with unestablished paternity results from a rise in the number of non-married women and a change in the population structure of Nicaraguan immigrants. Strong regional differences exist. Among individual factors are nationality, age, birth order, and social and marital status. Information from the qualitative study shows that the majority of women relate unestablished paternity to desertion or abandonment of responsibilities by the father of their child. Other reasons are interference by parents or in-laws and not wanting legal acknowledgement. Only one quarter of the women receive official child support and one third receive voluntary contributions. The women’s assessment of their situation in the different cultural contexts is varied and enables identifying areas worthy of reflection for efficient national social policy measures, presented as the conclusions of the paper.