Uruguay

Broad Social Welfare System

The extensive national public assistance system created in early 1900s was reformed in the 1990s to reduce the burden of its large share of the budget. The Constitution protects equal rights for women, who are eligible for 12 weeks of paid maternity leave in the public sector; however, many women lack paid leave. A national Voluntary Paternity and Maternity Program was implemented by the Ministry of Health from 1996 to 2000. Almost all births are attended by skilled personnel. Under a 2001 law, women can have the person of their choice with them during childbirth.

Education is state funded from kindergarten through college. Female enrollment is higher in secondary and postsecondary school, and women now are the majority in the medical and legal fields.

In 2007, Uruguay's Congress approved civil unions for gay and unmarried straight couples. Couples living together for five years who register their unions have rights similar to married couples. Cohabitation rights include child custody and formal union dissolution.

Uruguayans are largely of European descent, primarily Spanish and Italian. Most are Christian, and women adhere more than men to religious norms. The Catholic Church has opposed legalizing abortion, which is common; a majority of Uruguayans favor legalization. Uruguay's president vetoed abortion legislation in 2008, with another bill expected in 2009. More than four out of five Uruguayan women have used contraception, with the birth control pill leading in popularity. Contraception is widely available in pharmacies without a prescription.

María Abella de Ramírez, social reformer and mother of four daughters, cofounded the National League of Women Freethinkers, which brought together women from several Latin American countries. Abella stressed the importance of motherhood, which she believed to be empowering but undervalued.