Changes in Latin American and Caribbean household structure amidst fertility decline : 1960-2020
Becca, Federica (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
Esteve, Albert (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
Castro-Torres, Andrés F. (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
Centre d'Estudis Demogràfics

Fecha:	2025
Resumen:	Over the past six decades, significant demographic and familial changes, including rapid fertility decline, have occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), impacting household structure and formation. We document trends in and changes to household size and composition in the region, leveraging 144 country-year samples from census and survey microdata across 27 LAC countries. We measure changes in average household size, household composition by member relationship to the household head, and the evolution of female headship. Our findings show a general reduction in household size that mirrors the trend in fertility decline, albeit with subregional variations. An analysis of changes in members' relationships over time reveals that children are the main drivers of household shrinkage. The analysis also unveils the enduring complexity of household composition, namely of extended family structures. Female-headed households, which are characterized by more complex household structures than their male-headed counterparts, significantly increased over time. This trend partly explains the persistence of extended households in LAC. In addition, we document a gradual convergence in the average number of children per household between male- and female-headed households. These results challenge theories positing a global convergence towards nuclear family structures. Overall, LAC's demographic and familial transformations underscore the interplay between shrinking household size and persistent household complexity.
Ayudas:	European Commission 101052787 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2024FI-200111
Nota:	Altres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UAB
Derechos:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Lengua:	Anglès
Documento:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Publicado en:	Studies in family planning, Vol. 56 Núm. 1 (March 2025) , p. 135-160, ISSN 1728-4465

DOI: 10.1111/sifp.12282

27 p, 1.2 MB

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