Family
The birth rate is 20. 4% with a fertility rate of 2.45 children per woman. This rate has been declining sharply since the 1980s. Bolivia has a young population: 30.3% are under 15 years of age and 49.5% are under 25 years of age, and barely 6% of Bolivians are over 65 years of age (2021 estimates).
There are great cultural and economic disparities between the country's different communities. For example, an Aymara family will not function in the same way as a family from an Amazonian tribe, or a family of European origin. Likewise, a rural family has different concerns than a more modern urban family.
In rural and indigenous families, the family unit is paramount. Parents often live under the same roof as grandparents, uncles and their four or five children, who may have one or two children themselves. It is therefore not uncommon to see four generations sharing the same house. The parents, and especially the father, have a very powerful authority. If a woman has not married and therefore has not "freed herself" from her parents, it is not uncommon that after thirty years she is still totally subject to their authority. On the other hand, for a son, the situation is different: in Bolivia, having a son is more rewarding for the family, the little boy will be more spoiled and will have more freedom than his sister.
The elderly have a very important place in the family unit. Elderly sons will take care of their parents, because here there is no care system. If the grandparents are no longer able to work, they will be taken in by their children. The elderly will always have a major say in decisions that affect the whole family.
In rural areas, children, from an early age, will be expected to help their parents with any family work. The girls will take care of the household chores and their little brothers and sisters, the boys will take care of the herd or fetch wood for the house. In rural and indigenous families, parents will give more importance to the education of sons than to that of daughters, since the latter will be trained mainly to be mothers and wives.
Education
Slightly less than 6 percent of the population is completely illiterate, with the rate rising to 25 percent in rural areas. Education is the poor relation of the national budget, with the State devoting barely more than 7% of GDP to it. It is estimated that at least 1 million young people do not go to school and, worse, half of the Bolivian population has insufficient schooling and is unable to understand the content of a text. Children in rural areas are the most affected, as they have to provide labor for their families, absenteeism is common. In addition, language and cultural differences are a barrier to learning for these children from indigenous families, as classes are taught in Spanish. It is estimated that the duration of studies is a little more than 4 years in rural areas against more than 9 years in urban areas.
The Kindergarten corresponds to our kindergarten, starting at age 3. Then school is compulsory from the age of 5: this is elementary school, which lasts 8 years (however, UNESCO reports that 70% of children under 9 years of age do not attend school). Then comes secondary school (4 years) and university.
Bolivia has three indigenous universities founded after the promulgation of the constitution in 2009. Article 95 stipulates that these universities must do everything possible to recover, preserve, develop and disseminate the different languages of the indigenous nations and peoples: the UniversidadesIndígenasBolivianas Comunitarias Interculturales Productivas. One in Warisata (Aymara), another in Chimoré (Quechua), and a third in Kuruyuki (Guaraní). The specific subjects taught are not numerous: agronomy, food or textile industry, veterinary or fish farming for the Andean communities, hydrocarbons, forestry and veterinary for the Guaraní, but they allow students to obtain a higher technician diploma, a bachelor's degree or a master's degree. Spanish and a foreign language are mandatory.
However, let's not fool ourselves: the current system does not really correspond to the needs of the indigenous people, and the national programs do not include any element of indigenous culture. There are public schools and many private schools, the latter being of much better quality and contributing to the widening of the Bolivian social divide.
Wedding
The marriage in this country will always have to be religious and the purpose of the union will be to "populate Bolivia"! Among the Amerindian communities, we can speak of a modern concept of the couple: a young Aymara or Quechua couple will be able to live together for one year without having the obligation to get married (concept of "test marriage"). If the couple is satisfied with their life together, they can then choose to get married. If not, they can separate without any consequences from the parents and the community.
Sexuality
The sexual life of Bolivians is quite paradoxical: parents are very careful about their children's sexuality, but it is not uncommon for a teenage girl to be a mother at 16. Indeed, the use of the pill and the condom is still very unknown and not very accepted by the population.
In a country that is still quite macho, homosexuality is still frowned upon. Bolivia is a very conservative country on certain practices and orientations, and the Church still plays a very important role. In mid-2016, however, the country distinguished itself by being the first in South America to officially allow a sex change. The inequalities suffered by the LGBTQI+ community are still present, however. Some gay couples display themselves in the evening in the streets of La Paz or Santa Cruz, but with great caution.
The place of women
The Bolivian society adheres, as often in Latin America, to a patriarchal system. Male aggression is not always physical, it is often verbal. However, Bolivia supports the Universal Declaration of Women's Rights and was the first Latin American country to sign the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Eradicate Violence. Laws protect women from domestic violence. But, as the saying goes, " entre dicho y hecho hay mucho trecho " ("from the cup to the lips"). One of the main obstacles to women's emancipation in Bolivia is the lack of education (mainly in rural areas).
In Bolivia, the presence of women in the social and political history of the country has been very important. Despite this active participation in national life, women's demands have often been ignored by society. The maintenance of the home is still considered to be the essential task of the woman, even though she has always participated in the family economy.
Feminicide is a significant problem in the country (117 reported in 2020) and this issue has been the subject of extensive national debate in recent years. The government has launched an awareness campaign on the subject in 2019, including large posters in La Paz. Moreover, an improvement in the application of the law against gender violence is under consideration since November 2020.
Bolivian society is perhaps less macho than the clichés one might have had of Latin American countries: a woman once held the presidency of the country (Lydia Gueiler Tejada, who died in May 2011) and one can see little by little women holding positions of relative importance within the administration. Senator Jeanine Añez has been the interim leader in the chaotic post-election period of 2019.
Of course, equity is still far from being achieved, and women's power is exercised more discreetly in the family: they manage the family budget, as their husbands are not considered reliable enough for these tasks.
As for women's rights, abortion is still prohibited in the country except in cases of rape, incest or danger to the mother. Nevertheless, in March 2017, the Assembly was studying the possibility of expanding the conditions for abortion, a reflection that raised great debate and tension between conservatives and feminists. The status quo is still in place, but for how long?
Human rights
The Constitution approved in 2009 by referendum has made great strides in the protection of human rights, especially for indigenous peoples and peasants. A Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth (Pachamama) was established at the World Conference of Peoples against Climate Change in 2010, under the impetus of Evo Morales, declaring that "respect for the rights of Mother Earth is more important than respect for human rights.
Health
More than 35% of Bolivians have no access to modern health care in the countryside and almost 50% of people have never seen a doctor in their lives. This is relatively normal, given that there are only 1.61 doctors (2016) and only 1.1 hospital beds per 1,000 people in Bolivia. The health field accounts for less than 6.9% of the state's GDP in 2019. For several reasons, Bolivians are more likely to seek treatment from a traditional healer than from an allopathic doctor. There is above all an economic reason for this choice, but we must not forget a cultural reason: the allopathic doctor will often be a white person and will not speak the language of his patient, whether he is of Quechua, Aymara or Guaraní origin. Thus, the patient will generally feel fearful of being treated by a q'ara, the "white man with money".
