In 1992, a summer course 'Demographic Perspectives on Living Arrangements' as well as a one-day workshop 'Recent Issues in Household Modelling' were held in Wassenaar, The Netherlands. This volume is based on the lectures delivered during the summer course, as well as on the presentations made in the workshop. As such, the present volume combines the two elements of transfer of knowledge, on the one hand, and updating the state-of-the-art in the field of household demography, especially in household modelling, on the other hand. In organizing the contents and structure of this volume, we have aimed at creating a book that covers the field of household demography and household modelling in a certain logical and comprehensive way. The purpose of this book is to offer a comprehensive treatment of recent developments in various aspects of the growing field of household demography. Since these recent developments have particularly occurred in household analysis and modelling, these topics will receive special emphasis. The book was written for demographers, social scientists, and planners who are involved in the study and projection of popUlation in general, and of households in particular.

Although household demography is of paramount importance for policy-making in such fields as social security, housing, and employment, its modelling aspects have--until now--gone largely unexplored. Focusing on household formation and dissolution, this book is the first of its kind to take an in-depth look at social and economic theories, data problems, model-building issues, and the application of household models.

With the radical transformation of family structure in most Western nations and its important social and economic implications, studies in family demographics have increased dramatically in recent years. The second volume in a new series undertaken in conjunction with the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population, this collection documents recent methodological developments in the demographic analysis of families, households, and kin groups, including the analysis of the family life cycle and the construction of multistate life tables and simulation models. The volume also addresses the projection of the number and composition of families and households, a topic of great practical importance, and it proposes a number of refinements and alternatives to the simple conventional approaches now taken.

This book presents an innovative demographic toolkit known as the ProFamy extended cohort-component method for the projection of household structures and living arrangements with empirical applications to the United States, the largest developed country, and China, the largest developing country. The ProFamy method uses demographic rates as inputs to project detailed distributions of household types and sizes, living arrangements of all household members, and population by age, sex, race/ethnicity, and urban/rural residence at national, sub-national, or small area levels. It can also project elderly care needs and costs, pension deficits, and household consumption. The ProFamy method presented herein has substantial merits compared to the traditional headship rate method, which is not linked to demographic rates and projects limited household types without other household members than "heads". The book consists of four parts. The first part presents the methodology, data, estimation issues, and empirical assessments. The next parts present applications in the United States (part two) and China (part three), concerning demographic, social, economic, and business research; policy analysis, including forecasting future trends of household type/size, elderly living arrangements, disability, and home-based care costs, and household consumption including housing and vehicles. The fourth part includes a user’s guide for the ProFamy software to project households, living arrangements, and home-based consumptions. This book offers an invaluable toolkit for researchers, analysts and students in academic, public and private businesses, whose work is related to levels and rates of change in households, population and consumption patterns.