Families and informal support networks in Portugal: the reproduction of inequality

This article analyses informal support networks in Portugal. Using data fro m a national survey on families with children (1999), it explores the dynam ics of support, in terms of the characteristics of, and variations in, fami lies' experience of support. The analysis underlines the importance of soci al factors, such as the position of families in social and educational stru ctures, and family variables, such as position in the life course, in deter mining the extent of support received by families. The results show that ma ny families have a low level of support and that extended kinship does not play a significant role in providing support. As in other European countrie s, assistance flows mainly from parents, from the wife's family and from wo men rather than men; it is also strongly related to families' position in s ocial structure, with low educational levels and less favourable occupation al categories determining lower levels of support over the course of marrie d life. Thus welfare provision stemming from informal relationships reinfor ces existing social inequalities rather than compensating for them, and the idea of a strong pre- and post-modern welfare society must be challenged.