On the basis of ethnographie data collected in Portugal, the aim of the paper is to identify the factors that explain career options made by individual members of farm family households. Behaviour changes between age cohorts is a central issue in this analysis. Professional decisions made by the younger show a rural society fragmented on its traditions. Younger make their career decisions on the confrontation with urban social segments and their options are increasingly becoming a matter of sober reflections based on life-styles and ways of living aspirations more than on traditionally prescribed roles.
