Transcript Reflections on household concepts from a demographic point of view

Must we throw household data
in the dustbin ?
Marc PILON
IRD / UR105 « Savoirs et développement »
www.ur105.ird.fr
[email protected]
FAMILY AND HOUSEHOLD…
DIFFERENT REALITIES
• Family : a concept which is not very clearcut
• Household : a tool for data collection
transformed into a unit of analysis
WHAT CAN BE DONE WITH
HOUSEHOLD DATA ?
• Despite different criticisms of the household
concept, quite often adequate analysis may
produce pertinent results
• Some observations
– the kinship link data are more and more neglected in
censuses and surveys
– quite poor typologies
– weak knowledge about the characteristics of old people
Illustrations of what can be made
with the example of schooling
• Inadequate School Statistics
• Under-used demographic Data (census,
surveys)
• Non school data which have a rich
analytical potential…
some examples…
• Women Heads of Household Appear to Support
Schooling More than Men Do
• Importance of School Migration and the
Ambiguity of Fosterage vs. Schooling
Distribution of male students by relation
to the Household Head, for each level of
education. Burkina Faso, Census of 1996
Males
%
100
80
60
Primary
Secondary 1st c
40
Secondary 2nd c
20
High level
0
HH
Spouse
Son
Brother
Cousin
Nephew
Others
No link
% of Children 7-12 in school by status in the
household, according to sex and area of residence,
for Provinces of Burkina Faso, Census of 1996
%
%
Urban - Fem ales
Urban - Fem ales
80
80
Other Children
Other Children
60
60
40
40
Ouaga
Ouaga
20
20
HH's children
%
0
0
20
%
40
60
HH's children
%
0
0
80
20
%
Rural - Males
40
60
80
Rural - Fem ales
80
80
Other Children
Other Children
60
60
40
40
20
20
HH's children
0
0
20
40
60
80
%
HH's children
0
0
20
40
60
80
%
some examples…
• Household Schooling at the Level
Indices of Schooling for Children Aged 7-12 at the
Household Level, by Sex of the Head and Type of
Residence. Burkina Faso, Census of 1996
Indices
Households with at least one child of
school age (7-12 years) (in %)
Urban areas
Male Female
Head
Head
Rural areas
Male Female
TOTAL
Head
Head
49.2
51.1
59.8
49.4
57.3
Distribution of households by number
of children of school age, if any (in %)
1
2
3+
Total
Average number of children of school
age per household
44.6
35.6
19.8
100.0
57.7
28.9
13.4
100.0
39.4
32.5
28.1
100.0
53.7
34.5
11.8
100.0
41.4
33.0
25.6
100.0
1.86
1.62
2.06
1.64
2.0
Distribution of households by number
of children at school (if any)
All children
Some children
No children
Total
Households with at least one child in
school (7-12 years) (in %)
49.1
23.1
27.8
100.0
5.4
19.1
26.8
100.0
10.1
14.4
75.5
100.0
19.4
13.8
66.8
100.0
16.7
15.7
67.6
100.0
72.2
73.2
24.5
33.2
32.4
1.14
1.06
0.34
0.44
0.48
Average number of school age children
at school per household
IN CONCLUSION…
Should we throw away all studies we
have made using household data ?
• Censuses and classical surveys, based on
the household unit, will continue for a long
time
 so, we have to think how to best
analyse these data
 but recognise their limitations
IN CONCLUSION…
• How to go beyond the Household ?
– Take account of the phenomenon of non cohabitation :
On Household questionnaires, collect information about
non-resident members, and give them a special code for
the residential status

for children…
Percentage of HH children at school, by age group and
depending of their residential status
Age
Group
Male
Female
Resident
Elsewhere
Resident
Elsewhere
7-12
37,5
32,9
38,5
30,8
13-16
22,1
29,1
20
19
17-19
7
19,4
10
8,7
IN CONCLUSION…
• How to go beyond the Household ?
– Take account of the phenomenon of non
cohabitation between spouses…
For married men, distinguish the total number
of wives and the number of wives living with
their husband
For married women who are heads of
household, important to have information about
their husband
IN CONCLUSION…
• How to go beyond the Household ?
– We need specific quantitative studies, in order
to show the problems introduced by classical
household concept, their implications for
social, economic measures…
– Carry out specific surveys based on an
appropriate unit, depending on the subject,
the objective of the research