Revision summary
Household names common residence and consumption. Domestic group names who actually cooks, earns, and cares. Fortes showed the house as a cycle, not a fixed type. Goody split production from reproduction. Indian ghar studies include people the nuclear form leaves out.
Model answer
Copper italics in this answer — like this — are the key facts. Each one is unpacked in the Facts & figures rail.
Introduction
A household is a unit of common residence and consumption. A domestic group is the set of people who run that everyday economy. They are close, but they are not the same as a family or a lineage.
Body
Distinctions
- Meyer Fortes treated the domestic group as a developmental cycle: a house expands and splits as children marry.
- Jack Goody separated production, consumption, and reproduction. A joint kitchen may feed people who belong to different lineages.
- Leela Dube and Indian village studies showed that a ghar can include servants, widows, and visiting kin whom a census ‘family’ misses.
Why it matters
- Nayar taravad, Nuer cattle camps, and urban one-room rentals all break the nuclear-family default.
- Policy that counts only the married couple undercounts care and labour.
Flow diagram
Conclusion
Household is residence-plus-hearth. Domestic group is the changing labour unit around that hearth. Family and clan are other maps.
Quick related
Students also ask
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Marriage Regulations and Alliance Theory
Next question on this syllabus topic (2021 · Q1(b)). View answer →
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Is a joint family a household?
It may be several hearths in one compound. Count kitchens and purses, not only surnames.
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Can a household have one person?
Yes. A solitary hearth is still a household in the residence sense.
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