Households and Families in Mexico: Analyzing Them through Sampled Surveys

Abstract

This study analyzes some characteristics of Mexican households through a poorly exploited source of information: the household questionnaires of national sampling fertility surveys.

First of all, we review socio-demographic literature on households and families, particularly from Latin America and Mexico. Then we analyze the meaning and determining factors of house- hold headship. Regarding its meaning, we discuss, on the one hand, wether the most important attribute of headship is economic support or moral authority, and, on the other, its relation with life cycle. This discussion supports a first descriptive analysis of household-head characteristics: age, sex, civil status, residence rules, occupation, and schooling. These variables are gathered to propose a model of determining factors for household headship, adjusted for each sex through logistic regression.

Afterwards we analyze two household characteristics: family composition -size, relationship of each member with the head, existence of complete or incomplete family nucleus- and living conditions within the dwelling -occupation density, building material, and availability of water supply and sanitation.