Social Contexts and the Living Arrangements of Recently Married Sons: Understanding Factors Driving Household Fission

• In Event: 120 - Regular Session. Internal Migration

Abstract

This paper examines the living arrangements of married adult sons in a heavily patriarchal setting where agriculture is the primary livelihood and multigenerational households are common: The Chitwan Valley of Nepal. Three common types of living arrangements that married adult sons have are as follows. First, the married son, his wife, and any children they have might stay living with his parents. Second, the married son may cycle in and out of his natal home (often sending home remittances while he is away) usually without his wife and any children. In this case, he remains an integral part of the natal household economy. Second, he may form a permanent independent household with his wife and children apart from his natal home, what is commonly defined as household fission. Decisions to leave temporarily or establish a separate household are conceptually linked, as both occur within the larger context of the household economy. We examine the role of community and household demographic and economic characteristics as well as sons’ own experiences in shaping the odds of a married son’s type of living arrangements in the years right after his marriage. We estimate the odds that during the first 24 months of marriage, the adult son will establish an independent household relative to either temporary migration or remaining in his natal home. Results suggest that employment and farming opportunities, household wealth, travel, media exposure, the spouse selection process, and age at marriage all influence decisions related to post-marital living arrangements in agricultural settings.

Authors

• Jessica Anne Pearlman, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

• Lisa D. Pearce, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

• Dirgha Jibi Ghimire, University of Michigan

• Prem Bhandari, University of Michigan

• Taylor Hargrove, Vanderbilt University