Census Definition of House & Household

The Census of India conducted in 1971 defined a house and household as follows:

Census House:  as a building or part of a building having a separate main entrance from the road or common courtyard or stair case etc. Used or recognised as a separate unit. It may be inhabited or vacant. A house was defined as a structure made of any material, including mud, brick, stone, or concrete, that has a roof and is used for human habitation. It may be used for a residential or non-residential purpose or both. It includes buildings used for residential, commercial, and institutional purposes.

Household: A household was defined as a group of people who normally live together and share meals from a common kitchen. This group can be either a single family or a group of unrelated individuals.

The definition of a household includes not only people related by blood or marriage, but also unrelated individuals living together as a single unit. This definition is important for collecting accurate data on the population and housing conditions in India, as it allows for a comprehensive understanding of the different types of households that exist in the country.

Family or Household: a group of persons who commonly live together and would take their meals from a common kitchen unless the exigencies of work prevented any of them from doing so.

There are three types of households in Census:

Normal Household: A ‘Normal household’ in Census is defined as a group of persons who normally live together and take their meals from a common kitchen unless the exigencies of work prevents any of them from doing so

The persons in a household may be related or unrelated or a mix of both. However, if a group of unrelated persons live in a Census house but do not take their meals from the common kitchen, they are not considered a part of a common household. Each such person is treated as a separate household.

Institutional Households: A group of unrelated persons who live in an institution and take their meals from a common kitchen are considered as an Institutional Household. Boarding houses, messes, hostels, hotels, rescue homes, observation homes, beggars’ homes, jails, ashrams, old age homes, children homes, orphanages, etc. are all covered in this type of household.

Houseless Household: Households which do not live in buildings or Census houses but live in the open or roadside, pavements, in hume pipes, under fly-overs and staircases, or in the open in places of worship, mandaps, railway platforms, etc., are to be treated as Houseless households. Houseless Households are not to be covered in Houselisting phase.

Rural and Urban areas – Census Definition

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