journalists have commented that there is a prevalence of persons under thirty in jobs, and a predominance of men and women under forty-five in leadership positions.

FAMILY SIZE

The average size of the family decreased between 1900 and 1959; during the first years of the Revolution, however, live births increased from 204,000 in 1959 to 264,000 in 1964. Since 1964 the birth rate has been stabilized. About thirty-seven out of 1,000 children born alive die within one year.

The average size of the family reported in the 1953 census (the last such census) was 4.86 persons, with 4.35 the urban average and 5.75 the rural average. In 1970 a rural family with five children, however, was not considered larger than average. The family generally consists of the husband, wife, and two to three children.

The government is trying to reduce the birth rate from 2.1 to 1.5 percent during the 1970 decade. Because children are a source of pride to parents and a sign of masculinity to men, however, free birth control methods have not been well-received either by men or women and are not highly advertised by the government. An educational program, however, was planned for the future.

MARRIAGE

Until almost the end of the colonial period, only marriages performed according to the rites of the Roman Catholic Church were legally recognized. Between 1885 and 1898 civil marriage was valid for non-Catholics. After the end of Spanish rule, majority opinion favored the complete secularization of the marriage contract in conformity with the separation of church and state. A vigorous protest from the Catholic Church, however, led to the compromise that marriage be regarded as essentially a civil contract, whether a religious or civil ceremony was performed. From 1919 to 1970, civil marriage was required of almost everyone.

Before the Revolution an additional church ceremony could be performed if the couple desired. Because of the expense involved in the ceremony and reception, however, generally it was upper class couples who had church weddings (see ch. 11, Religion).

Civil marriages were more common among the lower classes than church weddings in general, but poor couples favored common law marriages. Civil officials expected payment for their services, and frequently lower class persons could not afford the cost. Moreover, a formal marital commitment required a certain stability and closer contact with civil authorities than many lower class couples were willing to assume.

Common-law marriages also imposed certain legal obligations. Parents, for instance, were obliged to support and educate their children. In a common-law situation, men were more likely than women to forget their responsibilities and less likely to consider themselves married.

Under the Fundamental Law of 1959, marriage is generally valid only when performed by civil officials. Church weddings without a concomitant civil ceremony ordinarily have no more legal validity than common-law marriages. Parents, regardless of their marital status, are required to support and educate their children. The legal age for marriage is fourteen for boys and twelve for girls, but parental consent is required when either one is younger than twenty-one. The government has encouraged legal marriage. The Ministry of Justice has formed committees in every rural district to marry common-law couples, in some areas by mass ceremonies. In a number of cities, buildings have been converted into Marriage Palaces (Palacios de Matrimonios). One such palace in Havana had a grandiose waiting parlor on the ground floor with a marble and velvet decor. Around the waiting room were offices for purchasing rings, perfumes, and cosmetics, and for arranging for wedding pictures and receptions. Although the official service was free, the receptions given upstairs varied in price according to the room chosen and the refreshments served.

Aside from providing free services, a more positive government inducement for marriage has been the refusal of a land-title to unmarried peasant couples. The government has further encouraged legal marriages by nationalizing some previously private and expensive resort areas and making them available to rural couples for inexpensive honeymoons. Some intermittent campaigning for marriage has been undertaken by the government: in 1961 couples were encouraged to honor their mothers on Mothers' Day by taking part in collective wedding ceremonies.

The government's concern for legalizing marriages has inspired a rapid rise in the number of legal unions, chiefly among common-law couples. In 1961 the government estimated that 400,000 such marriages eventually would take place. Between 1959 and 1965 marriages per year jumped from 32,000 to 67,000. By 1970 the marriage rate in rural Oriente Province had increased by 300 percent.

DIVORCE

Under old Spanish law, adultery by a woman was one of the few grounds admissable for divorce. The 1919 law of civil marriage, however, recognized legal divorce on other grounds, including that of mutual disagreement. The Roman Catholic Church and its supporters campaigned against this provision but without effect. The

Constitution of 1940 enlarged the grounds for divorce. During the 1950s an increase in the divorce rate was attributed to the growth of discord, lack of discipline, and juvenile delinquency.

The Castro government has reaffirmed the 1940 grounds for divorce. Both Fulgencio Batista and Fidel Castro have been divorced, and it is now accepted at all levels of society with little or no stigma attached. Since 1959 the divorce rate has tripled; in 1970 about one out of every thousand marriages ended in divorce. Many divorced couples had been married before the Revolution. The press noted that the principal reason for divorce was infidelity.

The procedure for obtaining a divorce was relatively simple. The couple announced their intention in a civil court. Less than a month later they returned to swear they had not lived together during that time. Soon after, the papers were finalized. If the divorce was contested by either party, the case went before the judge. Men paid alimony and child support.

CHAPTER 8

LIVING CONDITIONS

In early 1970 government programs relating to health, housing, social security, and general living standards were aimed at providing the entire population with at least minimum coverage. Most medical services were provided free; housing was supposed to become free eventually, and social security programs provided benefits to all workers, including those in the agricultural sector, many of whom had been excluded from such programs before 1959; also, the right and duty to work was guaranteed by the state. Nevertheless, rationing of food and other items was still in force, and regimentation permeated work and recreational activities.

After the Revolution the health situation deteriorated in the early 1960s. A medicine shortage caused outbreaks of contagious diseases. The rapid influx of people from rural areas to the cities put pressure on urban facilities, and doctors left the country in protest against the increasing restrictions placed on their profession.

Two new medical schools were opened after 1962, and newly graduated doctors began replacing those who had left; in 1967 the ratio of physicians was one for every 1,000 persons. Hospitals were built in rural areas where there had previously been none; plans were implemented to make it easier for rural people to gain access to specialized facilities in Havana, where medical services were still concentrated in 1970. In 1966 there were 159 hospitals throughout the country with a total of 42,000 beds.

Mass campaigns were waged against communicable diseases, many of which were brought under control or virtually wiped out. Less success was registered against diseases such as gastroenteritis, which is one of the five major causes of death, caused by unsanitary environment and intestinal parasites. There have been recent reports of a high incidence of malnutrition among the under-fourteen age group. People in rural areas lived with only minimal water and sanitary facilities. Urban dwellers were considerably better off in this respect, but they also endured frequent water shortages, many being without modern sanitary facilities.

The Urban Reform Law of 1960 was intended to provide means by which everyone would eventually own his own housing unit. Housing not occupied by the owner was taken over by the government; the occupants were to pay the government the amount of