menage - Millennium Development Goals Indicators

CHAPTER I. STATISTICAL CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS OF"HOUSEHOLD"The feature subject of this issue of the Demographic Yearbook ismarriage and divorce statistics in their role as indicators of householdformation and dissolution. To complement these current statistics, thenumber and average size of households, as determined by censusesand surveys of population taken since 1955, are also presented in table12.The number of couples in the population-the nucleus families-canbe estimated from population statistics classified by maritalstatus (shown in table 7) as well as by data on household composition.'The rate of formation of households and families can be estimatedfrom annual statistics of marriages performed (in tables 22-31); therate of household dissolution can be estimated from annual statisticsof divorce (in tables 33-41) and from deaths among married persons 2The biological size of families, in terms of number of children living,can be determined from current birth statistics by birth order 3 and fromfemale population classified by number of living children (in table 8).Statistics of divorce by number of dependent children (in table 39) givesome indication of the size of families dissolved by divorce. But theonly data easily available on the number of socio-economic units inthe population and the average number of members are the censusproduceddata on "households".Since the household is the framework within which individuals areidentified for the purposes of enumeration in a census or survey ofpopulation, household identification must precede the identification ofindividuals. TraditionallY, the first step is to make a list of livingquarters, structures containing living quarters, or households. Theselists constitute the controls for the enumeration, as well as a means ofestimating the number of enumerators, schedules and other supplieslikely to be needed, and the time required to carry out the enumeration.Enumeration may be carried out by either the canvasser method orthe householder method. Under the canvasser method, the enumeratorvisits the household and records the answers to questions; under thehouseholder method, the major responsibility for entering the informationis borne by a member of the household. In both cases, the householdis the general framework within which individuals being enumeratedare identified. For this reason, as well as because it is an importantunit of analysis, comparability should be maintained internationally asregards the concept of household employed.Since the household data in table 12 of the yearbook come fromcensuses taken between 1955 and 1967, one should be able toassume that the definition employed would tend to be that recommendedby the United Nations for use in the 1960 censuses, accordingto which the concept of "household" should be based on the arrangementsmade by persons, individually or in groups, to provide themselveswith food or other essentials for living. This definition meant that eachindividual living alone in a Separate housing unit 4 or occupying aseparate room or rooms in a housing unit as a lodger, and each groupof two or more persons combining to occupy the whole or part of ahousing unit and to provide themselves with food or other essentialsfor living should be considered a "household".A one-person household was, therefore, defined as "a person wholives alone in a separate housing unit or who as a lodger, occupies aseparate room or rooms in a part of a housing unit but does not joinwith any of the other occupants of the housing unit to form part of amulti-person household as defined below."A multi-person household was defined as"a group of two or morepersons who combine to occupy the whole or part of a housing unitand to provide themselves with food or other essentials for living. The, last published in the 1962 and 1963 Demographic Yearbooks.2 last published in the 1967 Demographic Yearbook.3 last published in the 1965 Demo,qraphic Yearbook.4 The term "housing unit" used for the 1960 censuses, has been replaced bythe terms "living quarters" for the 1970 censuses.group may pool their incomes and have a common budget to a greateror lesser extent. The group may be composed of related persons only orof unrelated persons or of a combination of both, including boardersbut excluding lodgers." Hence, the general criteria used in identifYing amUlti-person household is that its members have common housekeepingarrangements, sharing the principal meals in the sense that thehousehold's food supply is obtained for common consumption or paidfor out of a common budget, and having common arrangements forsupplying basic living needs.A special problem in the delimitation of private households in the1960 censuses was the treatment of boarders (a person sharing thehousing unit and meals against payment) and lodgers (a person whooccupies a separate room or rooms in the housing unit but takes hismeals apart, that is, does not share meals with the host household).The general rule adopted for population census purposes in 1960 wasthat the boarder should be included as a member of the household butthe lodger should be treated as a separate household. It should benoted in this connexion that the criterion for distinguishing "privatehouseholds" with boarders or lodgers from "institutional households"was an arbitrary one of the number of such boarders or lodgers:households in which the number of boarders or lodgers exceeded fivewere considered institutional households. 5It is obvious that, if every country adhered to this definition of a"household" the data from the censuses of population would becomparable. However, despite their best intentions, countries tend toemploy different definitions in their national censuses or, if they doadopt the international definition, enumerators may by direction orinadvertently interpret it differently in the field.S J .. f'ome countries, Instead 0 uSing the housekeeping concept recommendedby the United Nations, have simply defined a "private household"as the entire group of persons jointly occupying a housing unit,or as a person living alone in a separate unit. For convenience, this isreferred to as a housing unit concept. Under its terms a lodger isincluded as a member of the host household, which is thereby increasedin size. If the concept is used in a census in which persons are countedat the place where they were found on the day of the census, thehousehold will include not only the usual residents present at the timeof the census but also any visitors present at that time. Usual residentstemporarily absent at the time of the census will, however, be excludedfrom the household. To what extent these inclusions and exclusionsmay affect the size of individual householos cannot be determinedwithout detailed information on the residence status of persons in thehousehold. It is likely, however, to decrease the total number ofhouseholds because some "visitors" would constitute households oftheir own if they had been enumerated at their usual residence.Some countries using the housing unit concept have defined"housing unit" to some extent in terms of the housekeeping arrangementsof the occupants, so that one of the criteria for identifying ahousing unit is that its occupants eat together or have commoncooking facilities. In such cases, the housing unit concept has lar€leelements of the housekeeping concept.Another concept of household is found among countries whichhave conceived of the household as consisting only of persons related5 For the 1970 censuses, changes have been made' in respect of the marginalcases. It is still recommended that the household be defined in accordance withthe housekeeping concept but boarders, lodgers and persons living in hotelsare henceforth to be considered as separate households, if they meet thecriteria regarding arrangements made, either individually or in groups. forproviding themselves with food or other necessities. This change would havethe effect of increasing the number of "households". A secondary minorrevision made for the 1970 cycle of censuses is the change in terminology bywhich "household" replaces the term "private household", and "persons notliving in households" replaces "institutional households".