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The household (HH; oikos ancient Greek: οἶκος, plural: οἶκοι) is "the basic residential unit in which economic production, consumption, inheritance, child rearing, and shelter are organized and carried out"; [the household] "may or may not be synonymous with family".^[1]

The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models. The term refers to all individuals who live in the same dwelling.

In economics, a household is a person or a group of people living in the same residence.^[2]

Most economic models do not address whether the members of a household are a family in the traditional sense. Government and policy discussions often treat the terms household and family as synonymous, especially in western societies where the nuclear family has become the most common family structure.^{[dubious – discuss]} In reality, there is not always a one-to-one relationship between households and families.

Government[link]

For statistical purposes in the United Kingdom, a household is defined as "one person or a group of people who have the accommodation as their only or main residence and for a group, either share at least one meal a day or share the living accommodation, that is, a living room or sitting room" National Statistics.

The United States Census definition similarly turns on "separate living quarters", i.e. "those in which the occupants live and eat separately from any other persons in the building"^[3] A householder in the U.S. census is the "person (or one of the people) in whose name the housing unit is owned or rented (maintained);" if no person qualifies, any adult resident of a housing unit is a householder. The U.S. government formerly used the term head of the household and head of the family to describe householders; beginning in 1980, these terms were officially dropped from the census and replaced with householder.^[4]

The official definition is clearer:

According to Statistics Canada, since July 15, 1998, "a household is generally defined as being composed of a person or group of persons who co-reside in, or occupy, a dwelling."^[6]

Economic theories[link]

Most economic theories assume there is only one income stream to a household; this a useful simplification for modeling, but does not necessarily reflect reality. Many households now include multiple income-earning members.

Social[link]

In Social Work the household is a residential grouping defined similarly to the above in which housework is divided and performed by householders. Care may be delivered by one householder to another, depending upon their respective needs, abilities, and perhaps disabilities. Different household compositions may lead to differential life & health expectations & outcomes for household members.^[7][8] Eligibility for certain community services and welfare benefits may depend upon household composition.^[9]

In Sociology 'household work strategy', a term coined by Ray Pahl,^[10][11] is the division of labour between members of a household, whether implicit or the result of explicit decision–making, with the alternatives weighed up in a simplified type of cost-benefit analysis. It is a plan for the relative deployment of household members' time between the three domains of employment: i) in the market economy, including home-based self-employment second jobs, in order to obtain money to buy goods and services in the market; ii) domestic production work, such as cultivating a vegetable patch or raising chickens, purely to supply food to the household; and iii) domestic consumption work to provide goods and services directly within the household, such as cooking meals, child–care, household repairs, or the manufacture of clothes and gifts. Household work strategies may vary over the life-cycle, as household members age, or with the economic environment; they may be imposed by one person or be decided collectively.^[12]

Feminism examines the ways that gender roles affect the division of labour within households. Sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild in The Second Shift and The Time Bind presents evidence that in two-career couples, men and women, on average, spend about equal amounts of time working, but women still spend more time on housework.^[13][14] Feminist writer Cathy Young responds to Hochschild's assertions by arguing that in some cases, women may prevent the equal participation of men in housework and parenting.^[15]

Household models[link]

Household models in anglophone culture include the family and varieties of blended families, share housing, and group homes for people with support needs. Other models of living situations which may meet definitions of a household include boarding houses, a house in multiple occupation (UK), and a single room occupancy (US).

Historical households[link]

In feudal or aristocratic societies, a household may include servants or retainers, whether or not they are explicitly so named. Their roles may blur the line between a family member and an employee. In such cases, they ultimately derive their income from the household's principal income.

Historical statistics on housing[link]

According to statistics from Eurostat, the percentage of households in various European countries with access to an indoor WC, bath/ shower, and hot running water on the premises in 1988 were as follows:^[16]

Country	Indoor WC	Bath/shower	Hot running water
Belgium	94%	92%	87%
Denmark	97%	94%	N/A
France	94%	93%	95%
Germany	99%	97%	98%
Greece	85%	85%	84%
Ireland	94%	92%	91%
Italy	99%	95%	93%
Luxembourg	99%	97%	97%
Netherlands	N/A	99%	100%
Portugal	80%	N/A	N/A
Spain	97%	96%	N/A
UK	99%	100%	N/A

According to statistics from the World Bank and the Economic Commission for Europe (UN), the average usable floorspace of dwellings in existence in 1976 in various countries were as follows:^[17]

Country	m2
Austria	86
Belgium	97
Bulgaria	63
Canada	89
Czechoslovakia	69
Denmark	122
Finland	71
France	82
East Germany	60
West Germany	95
Greece	80
Hungary	65
Ireland	88
Luxembourg	107
Netherlands	71
Norway	89
Poland	58
Portugal	104
Romania	54
Soviet Union	49
Spain	82
Sweden	109
Switzerland	98
United Kingdom	70
United States	120
Yugoslavia	65

Average useful floor space (m²) per dwelling in selected European countries (Source: European Commission, 1994):^[18]

Country	m2
Austria	85.3
Belgium	86.3
Denmark	107.0
Finland	74.8
France	85.4
East Germany	64.4
West Germany	86.7
Greece	79.6
Ireland	88.0
Italy	92.3
Luxembourg	107.0
Netherlands	98.6
Spain	86.6
Sweden	92.0
United Kingdom	79.7

Percentage of households without modern amenities (Source: Living Conditions in OECD Countries, 1986)^[19]

Note: The Japanese and European data is from a 1980 census.

Percentage of households lacking an indoor flush toilet:

Country	No indoor flush toilet
Belgium	19%
France	17%
West Germany	7%
Greece	29%
Ireland	22%
Italy	11%
Japan	54%
Norway	17%
Portugal	43%
Spain	12%
United Kingdom	6%

Percentage of households lacking a fixed shower or bath:

Country	No fixed shower or bath
Belgium	24%
France	17%
West Germany	11%
Italy	11%
Japan	17%
Norway	18%
Spain	39%
United Kingdom	4%

Floor space in selected countries (1992-1993)^[20]

Australia (1993): 191.0 m2

United States of America (1992): 153.2 m2

South Korea (1993): 119.3 m2

United Kingdom (1992): 95.0 m2

Germany (1993): 90.8 m2

Japan (1993): 88.6 m2

See also[link]

Look up household in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Oikos
• List of countries by number of households
• Household income in the United States
• Household final consumption expenditure
• Family
• Intra-household bargaining
• Share house
• Group home
• Home
• Homemaker
• Medieval household
• Royal Household, the institutions that run the monarchy

References[link]