{"title":"Rising Female‐Headed Households: Shifts in Living Arrangements or Heightened Gender Symmetry?","authors":"Rita Trias‐Prats, Albert Esteve","doi":"10.1111/padr.12692","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Censuses and surveys predominantly report men as heads of households or reference persons despite women carrying out most domestic and care work. Recent evidence, however, suggests that an increasing number of households are headed by women. Using data from the newly released CORESIDENCE database, which includes over 770 data points from 156 countries worldwide spanning from 1960 to 2021, this study presents the first global map of female headship, traces its recent evolution, and compares female‐headed households with male‐headed ones based on selected household characteristics. The results confirm the widespread increase in female headship in virtually all world regions. Nevertheless, significant cross‐national differences persist, and changes are not uniform across all regions. Spatial and temporal variations in female headship can be attributed, in part, to structural shifts in living arrangements, specifically the decreased presence of adult men in households. Female headship, however, is rising beyond the structural transformation of households. Women are increasingly likely to head households even in the presence of adult men, particularly their male partners. This might be indicative of normative changes towards gender symmetry. We discuss the potential factors behind these transformations and consider their implications for further research and gender equality.","PeriodicalId":51372,"journal":{"name":"Population and Development Review","volume":"215 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.6000,"publicationDate":"2024-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Population and Development Review","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1111/padr.12692","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"DEMOGRAPHY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Censuses and surveys predominantly report men as heads of households or reference persons despite women carrying out most domestic and care work. Recent evidence, however, suggests that an increasing number of households are headed by women. Using data from the newly released CORESIDENCE database, which includes over 770 data points from 156 countries worldwide spanning from 1960 to 2021, this study presents the first global map of female headship, traces its recent evolution, and compares female‐headed households with male‐headed ones based on selected household characteristics. The results confirm the widespread increase in female headship in virtually all world regions. Nevertheless, significant cross‐national differences persist, and changes are not uniform across all regions. Spatial and temporal variations in female headship can be attributed, in part, to structural shifts in living arrangements, specifically the decreased presence of adult men in households. Female headship, however, is rising beyond the structural transformation of households. Women are increasingly likely to head households even in the presence of adult men, particularly their male partners. This might be indicative of normative changes towards gender symmetry. We discuss the potential factors behind these transformations and consider their implications for further research and gender equality.
期刊介绍:
Population and Development Review is essential reading to keep abreast of population studies, research on the interrelationships between population and socioeconomic change, and related thinking on public policy. Its interests span both developed and developing countries, theoretical advances as well as empirical analyses and case studies, a broad range of disciplinary approaches, and concern with historical as well as present-day problems.