HISTORIA DE VIDA DE PATRICIA

This section defines the terms household and family household as used in the study. The operational definitions employed for the nuclear family household and

extended family household, and non-family households are also presented.

3.4.1. The household and the family household

The study adopts the definition of household employed in the 1990 Philippine census of population and housing, the source of the data used in this study. The 1990 census employed the de jure method of enumeration. It defined a household as "a social unit consisting of a person living alone or a group of persons who sleep in the same housing unit and have a common arrangement for the preparation and consumption of food" (National Statistics Office (NSO), 1990: 17). Under this definition, households were determined as follows:

(1) A group of persons who are related by kinship ties (that is, a family, which can either be nuclear or extended) constitutes one household as long as these two criteria are met, namely, (a) they sleep in the same housing unit, and (b) they have a common provision for food. Non­ relatives, such as household helpers or boarders, who live with the family in the manner defined by the aforementioned criteria, and provided that they do not usually go home to their own families at least once a week, are considered members of the same household.

(2) Two or more families which share the same housing unit and have common arrangements for the preparation and consumption of food are considered one household.

(3) A group of unrelated individuals, such as a group of students or workers who share a place of abode and make common arrangements for the preparation and consumption of food is classified as one household.

(4) A person living alone in a distinctive housing unit is considered as one household.

It is important to mention here that the current study excludes the so-called

institutional population which in the 1990 Philippine census was defined as "persons who, at the time of the census, were living in institutional living quarters" (NSO, 1990: 21). These persons may have their own families or households elsewhere; however, during the census they were found living or confined in institutions. Examples of institutional living quarters are dormitories, lodging houses, orphanages, seminaries, convents, boarding schools, hospitals, rehabilitation centres, prisons, military camps and camps established for the temporary housing of workers in mining, agriculture, public works and other types of enterprises. It should also be noted that as mentioned in (1) above, helpers and boarders or lodgers of a household, and employees of a household-operated business who did not usually go to their respective homes weekly were considered members of the household. However, in the case of boarders, if there were 10 or more of them in the household, they were then classified as institutional population and were enumerated separately from the household (NSO, 1990: 19).

A housing unit is sometimes confused with a household. The 1990 Philippine census defined the housing unit as "a structurally separate and independent place of abode which, by the manner it has been constructed, converted, or arranged, is intended for habitation by one household. Structures or parts of structures which are not intended for habitation, such as commercial, industrial and agricultural buildings, and natural or man-made shelters, such as caves, boats, abandoned trucks, culverts, but which are used as living quarters by households at the time of the census are considered as housing units" (NSO, 1990: 13).

For the definition of family, this study will adhere to the United Nations definition: "those members of the household who are related to a specified degree through blood, adoption or marriage" (United Nations, 1973a: 337, 1973b: 6). By this definition, a family cannot comprise more than one household. A household can, however, consist of more than one family.

In this study, common residence is an essential criterion for family membership mainly because of the data used. As earlier mentioned, the data come from the 1990 Philippine census of population and housing. The 1990 Philippine census used households as the unit of enumeration, and collected kinship information only on persons in the same household. The current study identifies family members through the information on the relationship to the head of household. Because the members of a family are necessarily members of the same household, the current study uses the term

family household instead of the term family.

3.4.2. The nuclear family household versus the extended family household

This study classifies the family household as either nuclear or extended. The

nuclear family household consists of a married couple with or without never married

children, or one parent and never-married children. Persons not related to the household head by blood or affinity, such as household helpers and boarders may live with the nuclear family household. Thus the term nuclear family household may be used to refer to a household which consists either of the nuclear family members only or of the nuclear family members plus non-relatives. In the 1990 Philippine census of population and housing, non-relatives included persons who were related to the head of household through either blood or affinity but who were boarders or helpers of the household (NSO, 1990: 71).

In comparison, the extended family household consists of a nuclear unit, which is that of the head of the household, plus persons related to the head of the household by blood, affinity or adoption. Included in this type of household are those consisting of the head who is never married, at least one parent of the head and other relatives of the head, such as sisters, brothers, nephews, nieces, and grandparents. In this study, the different types of extended family, namely the vertically extended or stem family, the

horizontally extended or joint family, and the stem-joint family, are not distinguished

related to the head such as grandparents, parents-in-law, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, and cousins were all classified as other relatives.

It is worth mentioning that the operational definitions of a nuclear family household and of an extended family household adopted here are similar to those employed in previous studies for the Philippines, such as the studies by Stinner (1977), Dela Paz (1978) and De Guzman (1985, 1990). The main consideration was to make the 1990 figures comparable with the data used in previous studies for the Philippines. Consequently, the definitions in this study may differ from the concepts adopted by many sociologists. For instance, Murdock (1965: 1) and Castillo et al. (1968: 3) described the nuclear family as having one married couple and one or more children of this couple.

3.4.3. The non-family households

This study classifies a non-family household as one of the following: (1) A non-family household of related persons, that is, a household which

consists of a head who is never married, or a head who is currently married (or formerly married) but with the spouse and unmarried children not residing with him or her in the same household, and of never-married relatives of the head;

(2) A household of unrelated persons, that is, a household which consists of the head plus persons who are not related to the head; or

(3) A one-person household, that is, a person living alone in a separate housing unit.

Summarised in Figure 3.1 are the types of household as classified in this study.

Figure 3.1. Types of household as classified in this study

Households

Non-family households Family households

One-person households

Non-family households of related persons Non-family households of unrelated persons

Nuclear Extended

(consisting of the nuclear family of the household head plus relatives, including ever- married children of the head, with or without unrelated persons)

Couple only One parent and

with or without unmarried children

unrelated persons with or without

unrelated persons

Couple and unmarried children with or without unrelated persons

3.5. The common residence criterion in the concept of family: a mere