Gender Asymmetries in Household Headship

Rita Trias-Prats , Centre d'Estudis Demogràfics
Albert Esteve, Center for Demographic Studies (Barcelona)

Censuses and surveys predominantly report men as heads of households despite women carrying out the majority of domestic and care work. Recent evidence, however, shows that an increasing number of households are headed by women today. Using data from the newly released CORESIDENCE database, which includes over 770 data points from 155 countries worldwide spanning from 1960 to 2021, this study presents the first global map of female household headship, traces its recent evolution, and compares female-headed households with male-headed ones based on household size and composition. The results confirm the widespread increase in female household headship in virtually all world regions and demonstrate a growing gender symmetry between households headed by women and men. Nevertheless, significant cross-national differences persist, and changes are not uniform across all regions. We discuss the potential factors behind these transformations and consider their implications for research and gender equality.

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 Presented in Session P1. Fertility, Family, Life Course