Laslett household clasification


Type 1 - Solitaries

Solitaries are people living alone.

  • 1a widows or widowers.
  • 1b single people or those whose marital status is not known.


Type 2 - No family

No family refers to persons living together who Laslett thought did not constitute a 'family'. This is somewhat of a catch-all class.

  • 2a unmarried siblings who live in the same household but without a coresident parent.
  • 2b other types of unmarried relative living together.
  • 2c unrelated coresident persons

Type 3 - Simple family

These are nuclear families - couples and their children without any other type of relative.

  • 3a married couples without children
  • 3c married couples with children
  • 3c widowers with children
  • 3d widows with children


Type 4 - Extended family

These are nuclear families plus one or more relatives who do not form other couples.

  • 4a Extended upwards - eg. including the widowed parent of the father or mother in the nuclear family, or the not-married siblings of parents
  • 4b Extended downwards - eg. including unmarried grandchildren
  • 4c Extended laterally - eg. including the unmarried siblings of the father or mother in the nuclear family, or the children of siblings
  • 4d any combination of types 4a - 4c


Type 5 - Multiple family

These are households containing more than one couple who are closely related in some way.

  • 5a Second unit upwards - eg. a couple and the wife's parents
  • 5b Second unit downwards - eg. a couple and a married child with spouse
  • 5c Units on one level - eg. a widowed parent plus two or more of their married children
  • 5d frereches - a French term meaning coresident siblings. Laslett restricts the term to households with more than one married sibling but no coresident parent
  • 5e other multiple families


Type 6 - Indeterminate

No subtypes