The article analyzes data on family forms and individual life experiences in two rural communities of the Baixo Minho (northwest Portugal) during the 20th century. It examines how social and economic differentiation shaped norms and practices, giving rise to a variety of family forms rather than a regional family pattern. The stem family is found to be characteristic of wealthy peasant farmers. Drawing on individual life histories in two different generations, the article traces changes in stem family dynamics under the impact of industrialization and modernization over the last thirty years.
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