The Household Life Cycle and Economic Mobility in Rural Bangladesh

In rural Bangladesh domestic organization is patriarchal ownership of land is concentrated among men and inheritance customs and laws favor sons. Sons establish their new households soon after marriage usually about 28 and they then assume independent authority while usually being given right to a portion of their fathers land. A household cycle ends at the death of the patriach in each household. Household expansion is achieved through reproduction; the average number of surviving children is 5.5 per family. Several features link the demographic evolution of the household to its economic fortunes: 1) the household depends on labor supplied by its members and sons particularly provide parents with economic returns 2) in time of crisis (illness of the patriach flood) a household with mature sons faces a smaller risk of economic decline and 3) following the patriach deaths the risk of property loss is diminished by the presence in the household of mature sons and other dependents capable of claiming the inheritance. These reasons explain why in rural Bangladesh the household strategy of risk aversion is best served by maximizing fertility which is likely to produce greater number of male births and consequently of surviving sons. Also since wives face a high probability of widowhood it is in their interest to produce sons that can provide for them in their later years. Not surprisingly class differentials depend heavily on child and infant mortalitya s much as on adult mortality. As fewer children of the poor survive to maturity and those who survive leave their parents household at an early age the poor face a higher risk of property loss and economic decline. The article suggests that projects for rapid fertility decline in Bangladesh are not promising.