Children as family caregivers

Abstract

In the family context, the care of another person by children is uncharted ground in both its meaning and the implications that could occur in the process. Although historically been assigned family care to women creating conditions of inequality increased with the social changes of recent times, we must recognize that in many homes children have been forced to do this work without the necessary skills or preparation. From a gender perspective, the article seeks to demonstrate this by reviewing the approaches on the subject have been made in countries in Europe and North America as well as the analysis of information obtained in some Latin American countries from surveys households and time management EUT. How social problems affect the dynamic type of tasks and responsibilities that they bear children in the household, showing thin boundaries between collaboration within families, the cultural transmission of roles and functions and activities set that could adversely affect their growth and exercise of their rights.