Modelling household formation and dissolution

Abstract

In many Western countries until the end of the 1950s a persons living arrangements and the type of household in which he or she lived could be predicted reasonably well by looking at the individuals age and marital status. Most young adults who had never been married lived in the household of their parents. Married persons lived in a traditional family the overwhelming majority of them having children. Females heading a one-parent family were usually separated; sometimes they had experienced a divorce. But then in the 1960s the scene altered dramatically. Sexuality was increasingly separated from marriage and from procreation. Consensual unions gained acceptance and in most developed countries more liberal legislation led to increasing divorce rates. Interest in household processes grew rapidly. Now in the 1980s both government officials and researchers are trying to gain insight into the formation and dissolution of one-parent families non-family households and the traditional family. These developments are of major importance to national and local policy makers because of their impact on social security (female-headed one-parent families child allowances care for the aged) housing (1 and 2-person households) sources of income and consumption. In spite of its relevance scientific knowledge of household demography is still limited in particular its modelling aspects. This book contains a selection of papers from a workshop on modelling household demography organized by the Netherlands Interuniversity Demographic Institute (NIDI) on December 12-14 1984.