Tanzania HIV/AIDS and Malaria Indicator Survey ... - Measure DHS

Figure 2.1 presents a graphic picture of the population distribution by age and sex. Thepopulation pyramid conforms to the pattern typical of a high-fertility population. The wide base of thepyramid reflects the young age structure of the Tanzanian population. The pattern is similar to the oneobserved in the 2002 Population and Housing Census, as well as other earlier surveys. There is anunusually large proportion of girls and boys age 10-14 relative to those age 15-19. It is likely that thisdiscrepancy is due to age misreporting. This pattern of age shifting has also been observed in otherhousehold surveys.AgeFigure 2.1 Population Pyramid80+75-7970-7465-6960-6455-5950-5445-4940-4435-3930-3425-2920-2415-1910-145-90-4MaleFemale10 8 6 4 20 2 4 6 8 10PercentTHMIS 2007-082.3 HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITIONInformation on the composition of households, including the sex of the head of the householdand the size of the household, is presented in Table 2.2. These characteristics are important becausethey are associated with the welfare of the household. Female-headed households are, for example,typically poorer than male-headed households. In larger households, economic resources are oftenmore limited. Moreover, where the household size is large, crowding can lead to health problems.The data show that 76 percent of the households in Tanzania are headed by men. Thisproportion is lower than that found in the 2003-04 THIS (77 percent) (TACAIDS, NBS, and ORCMacro, 2005). Households with one or two members constitute 19 percent of all households. Smallhousehold sizes are more common in urban areas (26 percent) than in rural areas (17 percent). Thefour- and five-person households account for the largest proportion (15 percent each) of allhouseholds. The overall average household size of 5.0 is the same as that reported in the 2003-04THIS (TACAIDS, NBS and ORC Macro, 2005). Rural households are larger than urban households;the mean household size is 4.3 in urban areas and 5.2 in rural areas.About one in four Tanzanian households includes a foster child, that is, a child living in ahousehold with neither biological mother nor father present. Fourteen percent of households includesingle orphans (children with one parent deceased), and 2 percent of households include doubleorphans (children with both parents deceased). Overall, more than 31 percent of households includefoster and/or orphan children and the differentials by urban-rural residence are small. The largeproportion of households with foster children highlights the economic burden these children present.10 | Introduction