Industrialization and Household Structure in Rural Taiwan.

Abstract

This is a study of the ecological correlates of household structure in rural Taiwan in the past two decades. It examines the pathways by which industrial employment and other socioeconomic variables are related to household composition and the structure of relations within the household. Using agricultural census data on 234 urban and rural townships, an analysis of farm household complexity is performed. Contrary to theories linking industrialization to simpler household forms, local and regional industrial opportunities are found to be positively related to household complexity. Hypotheses linking property and inheritance to the extended family find support. The results are consistent with hypotheses which view household formation as responding to the availability of resources, and which view aggregate household structure as reflecting the changing socioeconomic composition of areas. These questions are explored further in an analysis of 2026 rural households from a recent all-isl and survey. Intermediate variables linking industrialization to household structure are examined, including kin availability, migrant status, ethnicity, and rates of property division. Industry's relation to household structure is found to differ within socioeconomic categories as well as between them. Local industry is found to be associated with greater extension of farm households and of non-farm households not resident on farms, both directly and by way of lower rates of property division. A small subsample of households in three rural townships representing different levels of rural industrialization is used to analyse the correlates of economic unity and authority relations in extended households. Non-farm employment is associated with greater economic autonomy and authority in economic matters for conjugal units in extended farm households. The findings are consistent with recent anthropological studies of rural Taiwan which show rural industrialization to be associated with more complex households characterized by looser economic ties between constituent conjugal units.