Moslem Hossain
M.Phil. Research Scholar
International Institute for Population Sciences
Mumbai, Maharashtra (India)
Mukesh Kumar
M.Phil. Research Scholar
International Institute for Population Sciences
Mumbai, Maharashtra (India)
K C Das
Professor
International Institute for Population Sciences
Mumbai, Maharashtra (India)
Abstract
According to the Census of India, the head of the household is a person who bears the chief responsibility for managing affairs of the household and makes the decision on behalf of the household. The head of the household need not necessarily be the oldest male member or the earning member but, maybe a female or young member of either sex. In case an absentee de jure “Head” who is not eligible to be enumerated in the household, the person on whom the responsibility of managing the affairs of the household rests is to be regarded as the head irrespective of whether the person is male or female. The head of the household plays a very important role for the collection of data in any demographic and health survey. Household Headship provides crucial information about household, members and their characteristics. It can influence the quality of data collected regarding household. Thus the characteristics of household head is considered as very important while collecting data. This information is very useful in classifying the data and to represent the results. This paper focuses on the changing pattern, trend, and characteristics of household head by using the empirical evidences from four rounds of National Family Health Survey.
Key words: Household Head, National Family Health Survey, Mean Age, Mean Family Size.
