Practice question · Sort into groups
Sort each description by whether it defines a household or a family.
Groups: Household · Family
- People who share a dwelling and normally a common budget
- People connected by descent, marriage or adoption
- May be spread across several countries at once
- The unit a census enumerates at an address
- May consist of a single person living alone
Hints
- One of the two is defined by an address and the other by a relationship.
- Ask which one a census taker can observe from the doorstep.
Show the answer
Household: People who share a dwelling and normally a common budget, May consist of a single person living alone, The unit a census enumerates at an address
Family: People connected by descent, marriage or adoption, May be spread across several countries at once
Why
The distinction is not pedantry: statistics on "family breakdown" are usually built from household data, so a couple who separate and keep parenting together become two households and register as a change in family structure. Knowing which unit a number counts is the first question to ask of any figure about family life.
Practise Family, Gender and Sexuality
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