Differentiation of voivodeships in terms of the number of children in the household

The author attempts to answer the question, "Are the numbers of households [in Poland] with specific numbers of supported children (structures) in the total number of households similar or dissimilar in all voivodeships, and where [are these] identical (similar) or dramatically different?" Results indicate that "the most differentiated voivodeships, in terms of the number of children below 24 years of age supported by households, were voivodeships of north-eastern and south-eastern Poland. In the case of male heads of households the number of voivodeships making up areas of the highest differentiation regarding the number of children below 24 years is definitely bigger than for the female heads of households."

Age and gender variation in the impact of household structure on elderly mortality

BACKGROUND

There is little information about the impact of household structure and composition on elderly mortality in developing countries. This study examines the impact of relationship to head of household, and the presence of co-resident spouses and sons on elderly mortality in rural Bangladesh with a particular focus on age and gender differences.

METHODS

A total of 9365 individuals aged > or = 60 at baseline (5128 males and 4237 females) in the Matlab Surveillance area in rural Bangladesh were followed for a period of 8 years (1974-1982) with all predictors (the presence of a spouse, one or more co-resident adult sons, relationship to head of household, household economic status, age and disability status) being measured at the beginning of follow-up. Cox proportional hazard models were used in the analysis.

RESULTS

Being the head of household had a significant impact on reducing elderly mortality for both men and women. The presence of a spouse reduced mortality for all elderly men but had a significant beneficial impact only on women whose husbands were heads of households. Finally the presence of one or more co-resident adult sons reduced mortality for elderly women but not for elderly men. For all three of the above predictors there was a decline in effect with the age of the elderly.

CONCLUSIONS

Relationship to head of household and the presence of spouses and sons have powerful impacts on reducing mortality for elderly men and women in rural Bangladesh with the effects varying significantly by gender and age. Furthermore, individual rather than joint access to material resources is an important determinant of elderly mortality.

Decapitating the U.S. Census Bureau's "head of household": feminist mobilization in the 1970s

"In 1970, as in previous decades, the U.S. Bureau of the Census's household enumeration began with a lead question as to who was the ¿head of household'. With the resurgence of feminism, this concept was challenged as an ambiguous concept which implied an authority structure imputed by the Bureau but not measured, and offensive to many people. This paper tells the story of successful feminist mobilization in the 1970s that led to the removal of this concept from the U.S. decennial censuses beginning with 1980."

[Knowledge and treatment of malaria in rural Senegal]

Evaluating knowledge about the diagnosis and treatment of malaria is a prerequisite for both understanding the development of chemoresistance and improving ongoing programs of chemotherapy and chemoprophylaxis. To gain such knowledge we distributed a questionnaire to 900 household heads in twelve villages in the M'Backe district of Senegal. Awareness of the main symptoms of malaria was satisfactory in comparison with previous references. Public health care facilities such as dispensaries were cited as the first resort for treatment by 72.6% of respondents. Chloroquine was mentioned as the first line antimalarial by 23% of respondents who practiced self-medication. Improper dosages were stated by 60% of the respondents. A total of 52.3% of respondents practiced chemoprophylaxis mainly using chloroquine. In 65.8% of cases antimalarial drugs were obtained from public health care units but drugs were purchased on the market in 15.7% of cases. These findings indicate the threefold Bamako initiative should be reinforced and that a campaign should be undertaken to educate people living in rural areas about malaria.

Co-residence of household heads with parents in Japan: a multivariate explanation

"This paper uses a multivariate logit model to study the factors affecting the Japanese household heads' propensities to co-reside with elderly parents, based on the micro data of a 1986 national survey. Our major findings are as follows. The most important factors are (1) inheritance of house or residential land from parent; (2) parent's spouseless status and age; (3) household head's sibling status; and (4) household head's nativity status. In a multivariate context, the negative effect of the household head's level of education was significant but not very important, whereas the presence of a working wife with child had a very weak positive effect on the co-residence with parent. Our overall conclusion is that the intergenerational co-residence in Japan is strongly affected by cultural norms and has a strong rational (economic) basis."

A problem in household composition

"Distinction made between household-persons and household-markers [the person who identifies the family or household as a unit] is formalized in the notion of nested populations. This leads to an extension of the Leslie model into a formulation of growth for both population and households. The extended model involves the matrix presentation of household composition where ratios of household-persons who are age 0, per household-marker, function as surrogate values for fertility rates. The extended model describes change over time in the distribution of population by age, and in the distribution of households by age of household-marker, or household-head. The model involves the inversion of a nonnegative matrix, and is feasible only if it yields, projected over time, nonnegative entries in vectors representing distribution of population by age, and distribution of household-heads by age. Conditions for the feasibility of the extended model are discussed, and a sufficient condition for feasibility over a single interval is identified." (SUMMARY IN FRE)

Orphan prevalence and extended family care in a peri-urban community in Zimbabwe

An orphan enumeration survey was conducted in 570 households in and around Mutare, Zimbabwe in 1992; 18.3% (95% CI 15.1-21.5%) of households included orphans. 12.8% (95% CI 11.2-14.3%) of children under 15 years old had a father or mother who had died; 5% of orphans had lost both parents. Orphan prevalence was highest in a peri-urban rural area (17.2%) and lowest in a middle income medium density urban suburb (4.3%). Recent increases in parental deaths were noted; 50% of parental deaths since 1987 could be ascribed to AIDS. Orphan household heads were likely to be older and less well-educated than non-orphan household heads. The majority of orphaned children were being cared for satisfactorily within extended families, often under difficult circumstances. Caregiving by maternal relatives represents a departure from the traditional practice of caring for orphans within the paternal extended family and an adaptation of community-coping mechanisms. There was little evidence of discrimination or exploitation of orphaned children by extended family caregivers. The fact that community coping mechanisms are changing does not imply that extended family methods of caring are about to break down. However, the emergence of orphan households headed by siblings is an indication that the extended family is under stress. Emphasis needs to be placed upon supporting extended families by utilizing existing community-based organizations. Orphan support programmes may need to be established initially in high risk communities such as low-income urban areas and peri-urban rural areas.

[From minimal household units to household projections: an application to Canadian data]

"The headship rate method for household projections has been criticised for its silence concerning household composition, while alternative models have yet to resolve how to estimate households from the distribution of individuals by household status projected by their models. By combining an indicator of household composition with an indicator of headship, the method proposed here attempts to remedy these problems. The application to Canadian households could be viewed as an adaptation of the headship rate method, but would ideally serve as the second step of a model more representative of the household formation process." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND SPA)

[Demographic data and the potential demand for housing: a cohort approach]

"Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation is actively involved in conducting research on demographic change and housing demand. Household projections are at the center of this research....CMHC is working with the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University to develop a cohort-based method for extrapolating headship and ownership rates. The method offers advantages over other approaches in that it recognizes differences between generations, provides a useful framework for analysis, and offers considerable flexibility in tailoring projection assumptions. Preliminary cohort-based potential housing demand projections show broad consistency with current low levels of housing market activity and point to continuation of some of the established trends in the past twenty years." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND SPA)

Use of malaria prevention measures in Malawian households

Information on malaria prevention practices in households was obtained in a nation-wide knowledge, attitudes, and practices survey in Malawi. Of the 1,531 heads of household questioned, 55% were able to identify mosquitoes as the cause of malaria. Use of any type of malaria prevention method was reported by 52% of respondents. Among users, 47% used commercial products (insecticide, mosquito coils, bednets), and 64% used natural measures (burning leaves, dung, or wood); 11% used both. The most common commercial measure used was mosquito coils (16%) followed by insecticide spray (11%) and bednets (7%). Increasing household income and educational level of the household head were strongly correlated with use of commercial methods to prevent malaria; households with an income ranked moderate or greater were eight times more likely to have used a purchased product. Use of natural measures was correlated with lower income and educational level. Thirty-six percent of respondents reported having heard or seen information on malaria in the previous year. Use of household malaria preventive measures in Malawi is very low and income-dependent. Educational messages are required to improve understanding and use of affordable measures.

Estimated numbers of one-parent families and their prevalence in Great Britain in 1991

This article gives the final estimate of the number of one-parent families in Great Britain in 1991--1.3 million--and a provisional estimate--of 1.4 million--for 1992. It also estimates that there were 2.2 million dependent children living in one-parent families in 1991, and provides a provisional estimate for 1992 of 2.3 million. Overall, in 1992, about one in five families with dependent children was a one-parent family and about one in five of all dependent children lived in a one-parent family. The article also examines the family sizes of one-parent families; the profiles by marital status of both lone mothers and lone fathers; the ages of lone parents and of their dependent children, and the geographical variation in the prevalence of lone parenthood within Great Britain in 1991. Finally, census data on the family composition of households are examined to investigate the extent to which lone parent families live in multi-family households, and the relationship between the lone parent and the head of the other main family in the household.

[[Household formation of young married males in Japan: past and future]]

The author investigates reasons for changes in the rate of household formation by young married men in Japan. "We have constructed a model which explains the change in headship rate, composed with three variables: the proportion coresiding with parents..., the headship rate for the coresiding...and the headship rate for the non-coresiding..., and we have contrived a way to obtain these three variables utilizing the Census tabulations. With this analysis, while the decrease of headship rate during 1975 to 1985 had been brought about by the rise of proportion coresiding and the decline of headship rate for the coresiding, the augmentation from 1985 to 1990 was caused exclusively by the returning decrease in the proportion coresiding." (SUMMARY IN ENG)

Aging of the population and spending patterns in Canada 1984 and 1986

"From the data contained in the 1984 and 1986 Surveys of Family Expenditures, which were carried out by Statistics Canada...this paper examines the consumption patterns of those households where the head is under 60, those 60-74, and those 75 and over. The first examination is of disaggregated expenditure patterns. Compared with household heads under the age of 60, those between 60 and 75 spend proportionately more on food and shelter, and smaller proportions on clothing, household operations, household furnishings, and recreation. These differences are accentuated when the household head is older than 75. The analysis is also done controlling for such variables as education, region, marital status, sex of household head, place of birth, and language." (SUMMARY IN ITA)

A comparison of four methods for projecting households

"The purpose of this paper is to extend the headship rate method for projecting households to encompass both sexes. Four models are considered that explicitly incorporate the impact of changes in the number of men and women on the number and joint age distribution of husband-wife households. The models are applied to the Philippines using data from the 1988 National Demographic Survey to project households to 2010. The models are also evaluated by 'backcasting' and comparing the results with special tabulations from the 1970 and 1980 censuses and the 1975 National Demographic Survey."

[[Changing patterns and projections of headship rates in Korea]]

"The purpose of this study was to calculate the headship rate for time-series analysis,...to review the patterns of changing headship rates and related factors and to estimate the headship rates to 2010 [for the Republic of Korea].... The data used for this study were derived from the Population and Housing Census Reports from 1960 through 1990, U.N. Manual VII and household-related literature....[The authors predict that] the total headship rate will maintain a uniform pattern of decrease and increase by specific age and peak headship rates will gradually extend to younger people.... Rural headship rates will decrease steadily and be greatly influenced by age structure.... In addition, the difference in headship rates between male and female will be great....Lastly, both the divorced and the single will have increasing headship rates for all ages [with] the single [having] the most rapid increase rate after their thirties." (SUMMARY IN ENG)

Thai family demography: a review and research prospects

"This paper attempts to give an overview of demographic knowledge on the Thai family and to suggest directions for future research." Aspects considered include marriage, marital disruption, household size and structure, headship, flexibility of Thai family structure, the family life cycle and inheritance patterns, and the impact of social change. (SUMMARY IN THA)

Household modelling and forecasting--dynamic approaches with use of linked census data

The author proposes improved methods of household modeling, using dynamic models rather than the headship rate method. "Reasons are discussed why this method has been criticised in recent years.... The advantages of dynamic models are discussed, and a number of alternative dynamic models of household formation and dissolution are presented. The data source used is the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys 1% longitudinal study, which contains linked information on 500,000 people in the 1971 and 1981 England and Wales Censuses of Population."

[Projected trends in the number of households in Canada and the demographic impact, 1986-2011]

"The author presents three scenarios for the future evolution of the number of households [in Canada], and analyses the results of these projections according to type and size of households and age of the household head. Particular emphasis is given to the impact of population growth on the evolution of households." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND SPA)

Occupational mobility of heads of households migrating to Medina

"The aim of this study is to determine the effect of internal and external migration on the occupational mobility of the heads of households migrating to Medina [Saudi Arabia]....[It] is based on a survey of families in Medina which was conducted by the author in 1986/1987." The results show that "the majority of the migrants were able to achieve positive vocational mobility as a result of their migration. However, there are some distinctions in the extent of this positiveness between Saudi Arabian and non-Saudi Arabian migrants, as well as between urban and rural migrants.... The main factors affecting migration to Medina are difference in income, as well as in the educational level at origin and at destination."

The impact of circular migration on a village economy

The author examines the economy of a rural village in Indonesia in which a high proportion of households rely on remittances from urban informal sector earnings. Household income and per capita income are analyzed according to whether or not households have at least one temporary migrant, and by the sex and age of the household head. Findings indicate that "remittances from short-term circular migration push many households into the middle and upper income ranges. However, the wealthiest households continue to rely on traditional high earning activities and do not depend on remittances. The poorest households are scattered among those who rely on remittances and those still totally dependent upon traditional low earning village activities, regardless of the sex and age of the household head."

[Official statistics and changing social values: the case of the reference person in the Canadian censuses of 1981 and 1986]

"Changing social values brought about modifications in certain concepts, terminology and questions in the 1981 and 1986 Censuses of Canada. This text examines how the term head of household was replaced by another term for household reference person,...and the consequences for certain data series. On the whole, these changes did not cause any appreciable break in, but rather improved, relevant statistical series. Some unanticipated results of these changes pose a new challenge for Canada's census takers in the 1990's." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND SPA)

[Aspects of women's status and employment in Rome during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries]

The status of unmarried women in Rome during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries is examined. "The structure of the domestic groups where widows, spinsters and women temporarily alone lived and of which they were the head has been analysed as well as the socioeconomic conditions of these 'solitary women'.... Almost always the female heads of a family were widows, [heirs] to a trading and/or artisan activity that they could manage temporarily only. As a matter of fact strict rules provided that a man should manage any kind of firm." Data are from parish registers. (SUMMARY IN ENG AND FRE)

Population dynamics and consumer demand

The authors analyze the effects on consumption in the United States of 11 demographic variables, including "regional location and the urban/rural base of the household, its age, size, race, sex and marital characteristics, and the education and the employment status of the household head and the spouse." Data are from the 1972-1973 Consumer Expenditure Survey. The expenditure functions are first specified, followed by descriptions of the data sources and the empirical estimates of expenditure functions for various items of consumption spending.

[Economics of the family: patriarchy in China]

"The inward and outward directed behaviour of a patriarchal family is analyzed by assuming self-interested behaviour of the patriarch, subject to the constraints imposed by the members of the family and by the budget. Hypotheses are derived concerning (1) the allocation of labour within the family, (2) family size, (3) the length of time in office and (4) the consumption standard after retirement of the patriarch, and (5) the redistribution (taxation) among the family members. They are confronted with 'sociological' antitheses based on role and tradition. The evidence from the literature on China tends to support the economic hypotheses." (SUMMARY IN ENG)

Does economic development necessarily lead to a decline in population? Some contrary evidence

This is a summary of a micro-level study conducted in three villages in India to examine the impact of economic development on population growth. The emphasis is on variables pertaining to social structure, particularly occupational status. "It was found that there was no significant relationship between level of income and occupational prestige on the one hand and the size of the family on the other in every village....The correlations between educational level of the head of the household and the size of his family were....small and because of the low levels of literacy they have not played any significant role in the demographic change in any of the villages." The author concludes that "if the parents try to restrict the size of their families it is not so much because they do not derive...economic benefits from their children but because thereby they hope to improve the career prospects of their children."

Migration and employment in urban Southeast Asia: examples from Indonesia and the Philippines

"Migration and employment characteristics are compared for two intermediate-sized cities in Southeast Asia: Cebu, the Philippines, and Medan, Indonesia. Using samples of household interviews as a source of information, the basic characteristics of migrant heads of household in the two cities are examined. In addition the nature of the employment and the search for employment are analyzed and contrasted."