Ordinary People, Extraordinary Times


by Michelle Johnson

Mary Winter's laboratory has no walls. Her research won't fit 
under a microscope. She studies ordinary people. Families, in 
particular. It was her interest in the average family that 
lured her to Mexico

In 1987, Mexico was in economic chaos. The Mexican government 
defaulted on its foreign debt, inflation skyrocketed and 
wages for the average worker plummeted. Mexicans called the 
period La Crisis. Winter and her colleagues (husband Earl 
Morris, University of Minnesota, and Arthur Murphy, Georgia 
State University) saw an opportunity to study the long-term 
effects of  La Crisis on the average family. 

"I was interested in how average folks managed their lives 
when subjected to circumstances beyond their control," said 
Winter, professor of human development and family studies. 
"During this chaotic time, it was the family as a unit that 
was having to absorb these drastic economic changes."

Her destination was Oaxaca, a city of 300,000 located 300 
miles southeast of Mexico City. There she found families 
breaking tradition and forfeiting their children's futures in 
order to survive. Women were forced to go to work. Children 
were sent to daycare. In extremely poor families, capable 
children had to sacrifice their educations for paychecks.

Women entering the labor force was the most obvious response 
to the economic restructuring taking place, according to 
Winter.

"In Mexico, the woman's place is in the home," she said. 
"With the principal female of the household working, families 
were faced with new challenges, like who would prepare the 
meals and watch the children.

"Women used to spend hours preparing elaborate meals," Winter 
said. "They would literally spend an entire day cooking. Now, 
Super Cocinas, or 'super kitchens,' often take the place of 
the home-cooked meal. You can purchase an entire meal. Each 
course comes in an individual baggy. These establishments 
exist all over the city."

Young children also entered the workforce during La Crisis as 
families scrambled to get as many members of the household 
working as soon as possible. Among the newly employed were 
some 5-year-olds, who sold flowers or shined shoes. 

"The value of an education was very low," said Winter. "While 
an education would help the individual child, it would not 
help the family as a whole -- earning an income was more 
beneficial."

Winter returned to Mexico in 1992, supported by the National 
Science Foundation, which funded her initial research 
efforts. She attempted to interview the same families that 
had been interviewed in 1987. She found most middle- and 
high-income families making progress. More permanent homes 
were under construction and the value of education had risen 
-- families were trying to keep their children in school. 

"By then, the Mexican government was taking measures to bring 
about change," Winter said. "The peso had stabilized and 
there was a marked recovery under way. Unfortunately, the 
recovery wasn't as noticeable in lower-class families."

Complete economic recovery never materialized. By 1994, 
Mexico again was struggling. 

Winter hopes to return to Mexico in 1997. She would like to 
further investigate the economic condition of the country and 
the value of an education. She also is looking at similar 
issues in Poland.

The College of Family and Consumer Sciences sponsored a field 
school in Oaxaca, due in part to Winter's ongoing research in 
the city. The school allowed faculty to learn about another 
culture while they conducted research in their fields of 
interest.

"There is a certain dimension that is added to understanding 
things in the United States if you understand another 
culture," said Winter. "I want that dimension in my research 
and in my teaching."

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contact:  Michelle Johnson, News Service, (515) 294-8986
updated:  7-7-95