Resumo

ORTEGA SALDANA, Luisa Dolores et al. Social reproduction of families with children under the age of 7. Rev. esc. enferm. USP [online]. 2005, vol.39, n.3, pp. 333-342. ISSN 0080-6234.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0080-62342005000300012.

Through a casual-stratified-proportional sample, this study characterized the social reproduction profiles of 80 families with children under age 7 living within the area of assistance of the University of São Paulo's Hospital Universitário. The profiles were constructed using a theoretical-methodological-operational basis that pre-defined 3 homogeneous social groups. Of the total sample, 36.1 percent of the families showed the most precarious ways of reproduction in both production and consumption; 48.2 percent seemed to struggle for integration in social life; and 15.7 percent fulfilled the qualifications for their adequate integration in social production, seemed to be protected from irregular work, showing a differentiated pattern of consumption and of collective representation and better possibilities to use the geo-social space. The results demonstrated that the methodology employed is adequate for the characterization of the social reproduction profiles, highlighting the fact that the social groups that comprise a society have different working and living conditions, and that each of them is exposed to specific patterns of strength and proneness to diseases.

Palavras-chave : Social groups; Working conditions; Living conditions.