Household

Scope Note

A household is a social group living in a single dwelling or compound. This category is used to index discussions about: typical composition (e.g., nuclear or polygamous family, joint or extended family, clan); range, types, and incidence of variations; extent of inclusion of servants, retainers, and dependent relatives (e.g., aged grandparents, parents-in-law); physical seat (e.g., a single small or large dwelling, a cluster of adjacent huts, a compound); functions and cooperative activities of the household unit as such (i.e., irrespective of variations in family composition); locus of authority; rule of succession; mechanism for adjusting disputes within the household; ownership of dwelling, food stores, and household possessions; etc. Functions associated with particular forms of the family rather than with the household as such will be found in separate categories.