Kinship patterns and household composition: older unmarried Hungarian women, 1984

Household composition of older unmarried women in Hungary is analyzed using data from the 1984 microcensus. The principal determinants of household composition investigates are 1) kin availability--the number of living children, siblings, and parents; 2) health status; 3) marital status; 4) age; and 5) income. A multinomial logit model distinguishing among 5 household types reveals that number of children, severe disabilities, age, and income are all strongly related to household composition. Trends in fertility and mortality patterns suggest that kinship patterns will change in coming years; these results imply that household composition will, in turn, change as well.