Household Economic Strategies: Review and Research Agenda
Author(s)
Schmink, Marianne
Abstract
Within a number of disciplines such as anthropology, demography, economics, history, and sociology, renewed interest recently has been manifested in research on family and domestic groups. In contrast to traditional studies that sought universal patterns of family structure and function, contemporary research tends to devote greater attention to the diversity of historically specific patterns (Yanagisako 1979). Many scholars are currently focusing on the relationship between changing forms of production and the domestic group formations through which the immediate material needs of most individuals are met. The study of household behavior is pursued primarily as a means of bridging the gap between social and individual levels of analysis. The key concept in making this link is that of mediation. In response to the opportunities and constraints defined by broad historical and structural processes, the domestic unit is conceived of as mediating a varied set of behaviors (for example, labor-force participation, consumption patterns, and migration) that are themselves conditioned by the particular makeup of this most basic economic entity. The focus on domestic unit mediation of individual decisions and behaviors permits the study of differential responses to general structural conditions as well as the analysis of changes specific to subgroups of the population.
