This lesson is a follow-up to the lesson "Who's Your Mama? A Family Who's Who" and is mainly based on "The Relatives Came" by Cynthia Rylant; therefore, family structure including titles or roles is assumed to be prior knowledge for this lesson.
Families and households are universal in world history. Their specific forms, however, vary widely through time and across countries and regions of the world. This course aims to provide students with a deeper understanding of diverse family structures, as well as the connections between the family life and broader socio-economic environment in which they are embedded. We will examine how conditions in the economy, labor market, households, and culture of a society can influence the well-being and functioning of individuals as well as families. We will also examine the reverse interaction—how relationships, patterns and decisions within the family may affect the behavior and performance of markets, enterprises, economic development and the overall economy.
The course will be divided into two parts. The first part will provide an overview of family structure(s) across the world, and develop insights into the economics of marriage systems and associated traditions. The second part of the course will examine economic decisions within the family such as the number of children, investments in health and education, decisions to work outside the home, etc. The role of policy in influencing such decisions, particularly in the developing world, will be highlighted.
