Bangladesh 1993-1994 Demographic and Health ... - Measure DHS

Household CompositionTable 2.3 shows that a small minority of households in Bangladesh are headed by females (9 percent),with more than 90 percent headed by males. Female-headed households are equally uncommon in rural andurban areas. The average household size in Bangladesh is 5.4 persons, with almost no variation between ruraland urban areas. Single person households are rare in both rural and urban areas.Fewer than five percent of Bangladeshi households consist of only one adult, either with or withoutchildren. About two-fifths of households contain two related adults of opposite sex (presumably most ofwhich are married couples); one-half of households consist of three or more related adults. Households ofthree or more related adults are more common in rural (50 percent) than urban (46 percent) areas.Categorized as other, about 9 percent of households in urban areas are made up of unrelated persons.However, such households are much less common in the rural area (3 percent).Table 2.3 Household compositionPercent distribution of households by sex of head ofhousehold, household size, and kinship structure,according to urban-rural residence, Bangladesh 1993-94CharacteristicResidenceUrban Rural TotalHousehold headshipMale 90.8 91.3 91.3Female 9.2 8.7 8.7Total 100.0 100.0 100.0Number of usual members1 0,8 1.2 1.22 6.6 6.5 6.53 12.4 13.5 13.44 18.4 18.8 18.85 19.8 17.8 18.06 15.2 15.6 15.67 10.5 10.0 10.18 5.2 6.4 6.39+ 11.1 10.1 10.2Total 100.0 100.0 100.0Mean size 5.5 5.4 5.4Kinship structureOne adultTwo related adults:3.2 4.8 4.6Of opposite sex 40.6 41.1 41.0Of same sex 1.2 1.8 1.7Three or more related adults 46.3 49.7 49.3Other 8.6 2.6 3.3Total 100.0 100.0 100.0Note: Table is based on de jure members; i.e., usualresidents.12