Bolivian grandmothers who raise, a task that never ends | Abuelas bolivianas que crían, una tarea que nunca acaba

By Esther Mamani, Vision 360:

Research

In Bolivian society, the work of grandmothers in raising and caring for their grandchildren is a widespread and overlooked practice because it entails a moral and physical burden as well as an economic contribution that is neither recognized nor valued. Specialists emphasize that the right to a dignified old age for elderly women is an urgent and necessary debate.

Luz junto a sus dos nietos en un viaje de recreación. Foto: Gentileza de Luz.

Luz with her two grandchildren on a recreational trip. Photo: Courtesy of Luz.

Every morning, at six o’clock sharp, Luz wakes up before her alarm goes off. At this hour, the cold intensifies in the city of El Alto, Bolivia, where she lives with her two grandchildren, aged six and eight, her mother, and her daughter, who spends most of the day working. Soon, the hustle of caring for her grandchildren will help her warm up.

After getting out of bed, Luz (name changed) dresses her grandchildren, gives them breakfast, and checks that all their materials are in their backpacks. She combines her passion for law with being a grandmother. She says that taking care of her grandchildren makes her feel young, fills her with energy and pride, but at the same time, she acknowledges, it involves dealing with daily stress and personal sacrifices.

Luz is one of many Bolivian grandmothers who dedicate a significant part of their time to caring for their grandchildren without receiving any economic compensation for all the tasks it entails. This is because caregiving work in the country remains largely invisible, and in the case of grandmothers, it is normalized, leading to caregiving being a never-ending job, even into old age.

Some grandmothers take on this responsibility because their sons or daughters work, while others are compelled to do so due to their absence, whether from family abandonment, emigration in search of better opportunities, death, or, in the case of women, being victims of femicide.

In Luz’s case, it is because her daughter and son-in-law work all day. “So, I’m the one in charge of my grandchildren,” she explains.

She is responsible for taking them to and picking them up from school and also has lunch with them. While the children do their schoolwork in the afternoon, she returns to her job, which is about 15 minutes by car from her house. In her absence, her 82-year-old mother also helps care for the little ones, staying with them until about seven in the evening when Luz returns home.

Researcher Carol Gilligan, in her text The Ethics of Care Thinks the Political, argues that the patriarchal system “imposes on women the role of ‘compulsive caregivers,’ leading to self-silencing and the sacrifice of their own needs.” It is a chain through time where, regardless of age, women continue to care.

Luz’s grandchildren are ready for a weekend outing. Photo: Courtesy of Luz

For other feminist researchers, the naturalization of caregiving work is justified by the affection grandmothers have for their grandchildren. Uruguayan sociologist Karina Batthyany states that this occurs because caregiving involves three dimensions: the economic, the material, and “a more subjective dimension.” The latter is “the relationship between caregivers and those cared for in terms of sensations and emotions at play,” she explains in an interview about the text Latin American Perspectives on Caregiving. 

Source: Latin American Perspectives on Caregiving, CLACSO, 2020. Own elaboration

Caregiving, a Job

Claudia Arce, researcher and member of the National Care Platform in Bolivia, emphasizes the need to widely disseminate that caregiving is unpaid, undervalued labor without which people could not perform their other tasks.

“This is deeply ingrained in the lives and bodies of women. The first step is to recognize that raising and caring is work,” explains the expert, who was part of the effort in Cochabamba to approve the first Municipal Law on Shared Responsibility in Unpaid Care Work for Equal Opportunities.

Although the debate is emerging, many people outside feminist or gender circles also understand caregiving as labor, including Luz’s friends. “Your daughter should pay you a salary!” “You have the right to enjoy your time!” “It’s her responsibility, not yours!” are some of the remarks they frequently share with her.

If not for Luz, the parents of her grandchildren would need to find a daycare or hire a personal caregiver, which is not feasible due to the economic crisis facing the country.

Luz’s contributions to her household are highly valued by her daughter, who describes her as a fundamental pillar of their home. “She takes on responsibilities that I should handle but can’t because I’m working. She has taught my children so much—she talks to them, cares for them, and they’re used to her. This is temporary; I work a lot now, and my mom helps me tremendously because of that,” Luz’s daughter explains.

Karina Batthyany, executive director of the Latin American Council of Social Sciences, states that “the unequal distribution of caregiving responsibilities is a clear expression of patriarchal structures that normalize caregiving as a female duty.” This exclusion, she explains, reinforces gender stereotypes that perpetuate the idea of caregiving as inherently feminine, leaving women with an invisible and unpaid workload while men remain distant from these tasks.

Other caregiving grandmothers look after grandchildren who have been abandoned or whose parents have migrated in search of better opportunities elsewhere. “There are grandmothers caring for four, five, or even 10 grandchildren, and they don’t have the money to feed them. Many can’t even read or write,” Luz points out.

The situation for most elderly women in Bolivia is precarious, far from the dignified old age that entails respect for their rights, access to leisure activities, and adequate and timely healthcare, highlights a recent study by the Caritas Bolivia Social Pastoral Network.

“It is urgent to understand that caregiving is a collective responsibility, so they can enjoy a dignified old age, free from silent sacrifices,” reflects María Achá of Caritas Bolivia Social Pastoral.

Absent Parents, Present Grandmothers


Sofía and her granddaughter at her food stall in a central street of La Paz, Bolivia. Photo: Esther Mamani

Doña Sofía (name changed), an Aymara woman of 61 years, has spent the past 12 years being both a mother and grandmother. Her life took an unexpected turn when her son arrived one day holding a one-year-old girl and announced that the child’s mother, Sofía’s daughter-in-law, had passed away.

“Oh no, what am I going to do now?” Doña Sofía asked herself. Amid tears, she begged her son not to leave, but he ultimately fled, leaving the full responsibility for his daughter to his aging parents.

Although precise statistics on the number of fathers abandoning their children are unavailable, data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) shows that, as of 2017, 45.5% of households in Bolivia were led solely by women as heads of the family.

A report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) links child abandonment in Bolivia to the absence of paternal figures. It reveals that 80% of children in care centers have known relatives, yet only 58% receive visits from their parents. The analysis, made public in 2022, reflects statistics from the 22 years preceding its release.

Sofía’s granddaughter is among these statistics, having been orphaned and abandoned by her father. All they know about him is that he went to Brazil. He has not contacted either his mother or daughter, who remain in La Paz, Bolivia.

Terrified but resolute, Doña Sofía chose to care for the little girl. That first night, the baby snuggled into her arms as if she instinctively knew she had found a new home. “She was so calm, didn’t cry or fuss. She has always been easygoing. From that day, I’ve raised her as my own daughter,” Sofía recalls. Today, they are inseparable.

To cover the costs of raising her new “daughter,” Doña Sofía began selling noodle soups (noodles with peanuts, silpancho, flour tortillas, eggs, or cheese)—a job she continues to this day. Each night, both grandmother and granddaughter brave the cold streets of La Paz to sell their food.

“How could I leave her alone? I can’t just lie in bed while my grandma is out in the cold. She’s my mom, and I want to give her everything she deserves,” the teenager says when asked why she accompanies her grandmother.

Like Sofía, thousands of Bolivian women are heads of single-parent households. Women of all ages, including those in their senior years, make up 82% of these households, according to the study Families in Transition: Changes in Bolivian Families Between 2002 and 2017, conducted by the Socioeconomic Research Institute (IISEC) of the Bolivian Catholic University (UCB) and the Fundación Jubileo.

Each day, Sofía goes shopping early in the morning and returns home around 10 a.m. while her granddaughter attends school. In the afternoon, the two work together: Sofía cooks, and her granddaughter does her schoolwork. Around six in the evening, they head downtown carrying the food and supplies for their stall, where they sell until about 10 p.m.

Mary dreams of attending university and securing a career to provide her “mom” with a dignified old age. For now, she contributes by earning good grades at school and helping with the business, managing payments for the noodle soups and organizing napkins and stools for their customers.

Sofía serves a plate of food while her granddaughter helps with other tasks at the food stall, Bolivia. Photo: Esther Mamani

Grandmothers, when in charge of raising their grandchildren, take on many roles. Like her, other older women experience the situation of being the head of their households.

According to the Post-Census Study on the Elderly in 2012, conducted by the National Institute of Statistics, in rural areas, 24.3% of households are headed by elderly adults, while in urban areas, this percentage drops to 15.2%.

This is not the only study; others show that caregiving, raising children, and working fall heavily on grandmothers. Six out of ten women aged 60 and older dedicate up to five hours a day to caregiving, according to OXFAM’s report “Tiempo para cuidar” in Bolivia.

In Sofia’s case, since taking full responsibility for raising her granddaughter, she dedicates many more hours to her care, not only as a grandmother but also legally as a mother. “The notary told me to recognize (register her) as my daughter since we didn’t know how to get her birth certificate. My husband and I legally recognized her,” she recalls while continuing to sell food.

In this family, food sales sustain their economy by dividing tasks. “My husband goes even though he’s sick. He got COVID, but he takes care of her studies,” she says.

While the grandmother shares her story, the teenager keeps her eyes on her, and when a customer arrives, they work together seamlessly, exchanging instructions with just a glance. A municipal guard approaches to ask them to leave, and in seconds, they pack up everything to leave. “I’m actually done (with the food),” Sofia says as she bids goodbye.

Aging to Rest

Miriam Chávez, a member of the Casa de la Mujer in Santa Cruz, explains that the roles society imposes on women regarding family care are constraints. “We end up being reproducers of the patriarchal system because it’s unpaid work, and the patriarchal system doesn’t say anything. It’s a way of perpetuating itself with a large subordinated population that we women are,” she argues.

For the activist, this demonstrates a lack of social justice where these women are subjected to unpaid and socially devalued tasks. Therefore, it is crucial that the burden is not invisibilized, that caregiving is not seen as a natural mandate for women, but as a task that needs support, redistribution, and recognition, the expert emphasizes.

According to the study “Situation and Differentiated Characteristics of Urban and Rural Aging in Bolivia” from 2019, Bolivia’s population growth rate shows that the segment with the most growth is the population aged 60 and older, as from 2001 to 2012, the population under 14 years of age decreased by -0.1%.

“In Bolivia, older adults generally live within extended families, and there is still a strong sense of collaboration between parents and children, though cases of domestic violence are increasing. Grandmothers help with the care of grandchildren, and those who care for dependent elderly people are daughters,” says the study.

The voices of women like Luz and Sofia demonstrate that these family ties involve exhaustion and postponed dreams. They don’t seek rewards, as they explain.

“The State must fulfill public policies that recognize their role and offer alternatives for shared and sustained caregiving,” explains Claudia Arce from the Care Platform.

Caregiving and Violence

Other grandmothers who care for grandchildren face intertwined vulnerabilities. Some even consider filing complaints, though no statistics or data exist on complaints regarding the impositions of caregiving and raising grandchildren.

Older adults may suffer other abuses such as the withholding of their pension incomes or the stripping of their property. The Plurinational Integrated Justice Services (SIJPLU), under the Ministry of Justice, reported that during the first half of 2024, they provided legal assistance to 4,461 elderly people (2,510 women and 1,951 men). In 2023, they assisted 4,612 people, all cases related to the violation of rights of this population.

In this context, Bolivian grandmothers are not only raising their grandchildren but are holding up the country because, without them, the fate of many minors would be uncertain or, alternatively, someone would have to pay for these services in daycare centers or with personal caregivers.

(*) This report was produced by the Feminist Journalism Network with funding from the Bolivia Women’s Fund – Apthapi Jopueti.

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