Life style : Family life

In the past, Hmongs constitute of big families. Hmong women who has wedding, usually will prepare them self to give a birth.       Hmong women wake up early in the morning at around 4.00 - 5.00 am. They undertake all the household chores including drawing water, cooking meals for the family and feeding the domestic animals. After sunrise, the women prepare for work in the field to gather opium leaves, cut the grasses or harvest the crops. When they are at home, they will weave and look after their children, and in the evening, the woman prepares opium for their husbands. Her work will finish when everyone in the house sleep. Hmong men have lesser workload than women as their daily routine includes sipping tea, smoking opium, taking care of the house, and entertaining their guests.

Hmong women work harder than men because Hmong perceive marriage as man buying woman to work for everyone in his house. Therefore, Hmong women who are married are like housemaids and work very hard but cannot support themselves. Also, Hmong men can marry many wives to take care of the house. Some people have up to 4 wives and the women usually can live together as relatives and do not fight. Nowadays, the Hmong people are more receptive to Thai cultures, and the men usually marry only one woman. The Hmong men also take more initiative to help his wife as compared to the past.

http://hmong.hilltribe.org