The average number of people per household is declining throughout Central America. According to the Fifth State of the Region Report on Sustainable Human Development, published on Thursday, between 2001 and 2013 there was a reduction of 0.5 members at a regional level.
In addition, the proportion of households headed by women has increased significantly, as it went from a quarter of households in 2001 to nearly a third in 2013.
This behavior is associated with situations such as the postponement of the first conjugal union, the fewer children per couple and greater spacing between pregnancies.
Consistently, the number of members under 15 years old in households decreased on average by 7 percentage points, while the presence of elderly population (more than 60 years old) increased by 2 percentage points.
While the predominant type of home is the “conjugal nuclear” (parents and children), its proportion has tended to decline, especially in urban areas.
The largest reductions occurred in Costa Rica and Honduras (8.8 percentage points each) and Panama (5.3 percentage points).
Another significant change is the increased presence of single parents and single person households. Single parents increased mainly in Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador and Panama. These households represent between 10% and 15% of the total and are characterized by a high proportion of female-headed households, which in 2013 ranged from 85% in Panama and 90% in Costa Rica.
Single person household’s highest increase was also recorded in Costa Rica, followed by Panama. Although most are composed of men, the presence of women increased from 41.5% in 2001 to 48.1% in 2013.
The increase in the proportion of nuclear households without children, single parents, and single person households, especially in Costa Rica and Panama, could reflect the behavior of relatively young populations, with little desire to establish families at an early age and with income levels that put them in the middle and upper classes. According to the analysis, this encourages independence.
According to the report, in the period 2001-2013, the proportion of married people tended to decline or remained unchanged, while the percentage living in cohabiting increased throughout the Isthmus.
In addition, in over 60% of households where there is at least one older adult, this person is usually the head of the family. These homes are usually extensive and include other relatives.
The report associated this trend to the “broad” housing deficit in the region, which prevents children on working age to have the necessary resources to acquire their own homes, and on the other hand, there is not enough supply of care for the elderly population.