CHAPTER 2 BACKGROUND CHARACTERISTICS OF HOUSEHOLDS AND RESPONDENTS Presented in this chapter are the background characteristics of the sample households and the respondents to the survey. Information on the characteristics of the households and respondents is deemed important in the interpretation of the survey results. The behavior of women concerning demographic phenomena is known to be influenced by their characteristics and their environment. Also, analysis of the reported characteristics of the sample households and the respondents can indicate the quality of the information collected and whether or not it is representtive of the population. The chapter is divided into three parts. The first part deals with the characteristics of the household population in terms of age-sex composition, household size and distribution, and educational background. The second part describes the housing environment in which the respondents live. The characteristics of the individual women respondents to the survey are discussed in the third part of this chapter. 2.1 Age.SexComposition The household questionnaire used in the 1998 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) collected data on the demographic and social characteristics of the members and visitors in each sample household. A household, as defined in the survey, refers to a person or group of persons who usually sleep in the same housing unit and have a common arrangement for the preparation and consumption of food. A visitor, on the other hand, is someone who is not a usual resident of the household but slept in the household the night prior to the interview. In this report, except in Table 2.2 census figures, data are based on the population according to the place where they spent the night before the interview (de facto). Age reporting in the Philippines is relatively accurate. The present generation of residents, including those living in the rural areas, seems to be conscious of calendar dates, especially those relating to important events in their personal lives such as birthdays. The distribution of the sampled population by single year of age and by sex is presented in Figure 2.1 and in Appendix Table C.1. Examination of the data and the graph reveals only a slight preference for digits ending in 0 and 5 when reporting ages. Another indication of the quality of age reporting is the number of women age 15 and age 49 relative to those age 14 and 50. In some surveys, including the 1993 NDS, there was displacement of women from age 15 to age 14 and from age 49 to 50, probably done intentionally by the interviewers to reduce their assigned workload. The data in Table C.1 indicate that this was not a problem in the 1998 NDHS. The proportion of the population below 15 years is larger in rural than in urban areas, indicating a younger age structure of the rural population (Table 2.1). In urban areas, the proportion is, however, larger for males than for females but it differs little between the sexes in rural areas, On the whole, it can be said that the composition of the Philippine population by age and sex depicts a population pyramid (Figure 2.2) with a wide base and narrow top, a pattern that is typical of high fertility societies. 7 Figure 2.1 Single-year Age Distribution of the Household Population, by Sex, Philippines Number of Persons 900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 t00 I I I I I I I l l I I I I 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 Age I--Male +Female ] 1998 NDH$ Table 2.1 Household votmlation by a~e. residence and sex Percent distribution of the de facto household population by five-year age groups, according to urban-rural residence and sex, Philippines 1998 Age Urban Rural Total group Male Female Total Male Fema!e Total Male Female Total. 0-4 13.1 10.8 11.9 14.9 13.9 14.4 14.0 12.3 13.2 5-9 12.1 11.1 11.6 15.0 15.0 15.0 13.6 13.0 13.3 10-14 11.2 10.4 10.8 13.2 13.1 13.2 12.2 11.7 12.0 15-19 11.2 11.6 11.4 10.1 8.9 9.5 10.7 10.3 10.5 20-24 9.7 9.3 9.5 6.8 6.7 6.7 8.2 8.0 8.1 25-29 8.6 8.8 8.7 6.6 6.7 6.7 7.6 7.8 7.7 30-34 7.4 7.8 7.6 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.9 7.2 7.0 35-39 6.4 6.6 6.5 5.8 6.1 5.9 6.1 6.4 6.2 40-.44 5.1 5.6 5.4 4.6 4.7 4.6 4.8 5,2 5.0 45..49 4.3 4.2 4.3 4.0 3.9 4.0 4.2 4.1 4.1 50-54 3.2 3.7 3.5 3.2 3.6 3.4 3.2 3.7 3.4 55-59 2.5 3.0 2.8 2.7 3.1 2.9 2.6 3.1 2.8 60-64 2.0 2.2 2.1 2.3 2.7 2.5 2.2 2.4 2.3 65-69 1.2 1.7 1.5 1.5 1.8 1.7 1.4 1.7 1,6 70-74 0.9 1.2 1.0 1.3 1.4 1.3 1.1 1.3 1.2 75-79 0.5 0,9 0,7 0,7 1,0 0,9 0.6 1.0 0.8 80+ 0.4 0.9 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.6 0.9 0.7 Missing/ 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Don't know Total 10O.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100,0 100.0 Number ~ 14,707 15,585 30,300 15,273 14,784 30,057 29,980 30,369 60,357 lIncludes 8 cases with missing information on sex. 8 Figure 2.2 Distribution of the Household Population by Age and Sex, Philippines 1998 Age 80+ El 75-79 im 70-74 65-69 Female 60-64 Male ~ I 55-59 50-54 ~n 45-49 ~n 40-44 35-39 30-34 25-29 20-24 15-19 :Si {i i i!I:iliI~ }i i i!";!i!~ilI Ii~!~ Yiii!i iIIi! ~:4i"ii'!~::!4 10-14 5-9 0-4 ' I I i, I I I I 6 4 2 2 4 6 8 Percent 1998 NDHS 2.2 Population by Age from Selected Sources In Table 2.2, the percent distribution of the population by broad age groups, according to the 1970, 1980, 1990 and 1995 Census of Population and the 1993 NDS and 1998 NDHS are presented. There appears to be a progressive decline since 1970 in the proportion Of the population under 15 and, concomitantly, an increase in the median age. The growing proportion in the 15-64 group results in a declining dependency ratio, defined as the ratio of persons in the "dependent" ages (under 15 and 65 and over) to those in the "economically active" ages (15-64). This slight aging of the population has taken place in the recent past as a result of a continuous, albeit slow decline in fertility levels. The 1993 NDS and 1998 NDHS data show fairly similar distributions by age, which supports the representativeness of the survey population. 2.3 Household Composition Information on the size and composition of the sample households by urban-rural residence is presented in Table 2.3. Women head about 15 percent of the households. As expected, a higher proportion of female-headed households is noted in urban areas (17 percent) than in rural areas (12 percent). On average, a household is composed of 5.1 persons, A negligible difference in average household size is observed between urban and rural areas. 9 Table 2.2 Median a~e and de~ndanev ratio Percent distribution of the household population by broad age groups for various census years and the NDHS. Philippines 1998 1970 1980 1990 1993 1995 1998 Ago group Census Census Census NDS Census NDHS Less than 15 45.7 42.0 39.5 39.3 38.4 38.5 15.,64 51.4 54.6 57.1 56.8 58.1 57.3 65+ 2.9 3.4 3.4 3.9 3.5 4.2 Total I00.0 100.0 100.0 10O.0 100.0 100.0 Median age 16 18 19 20.1 20 20.6 Dependency ratio 94.6 83.2 75.1 76.1 72.2 74.5 Table 2.3 Household comvosition Percent distribution of households by sex of head of household and household size. according to urban-rural residence. Philippines 1998 Residence Characteristic Urban Rural Total Household headship Male 83.1 87.9 85.5 Female 16.9 12.1 14.5 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 Number~usual membe~ 1 3.8 4.3 4.1 2 8.0 9.1 8.6 3 12.6 13.8 13.2 4 18.1 16.6 17.3 5 19.6 17.7 18.6 6 14.3 14.3 14.3 7 9.4 10.3 9.9 8 6.0 6.1 6.0 9+ 8.3 7.7 8.0 Total 1~.0 100.0 100.0 Mean size of household 5.1 5.0 5.1 10 Figure 2.3 Median Years of Schooling by Sex and Region, Philippines 1998 Median Number Years 10 8 6 4 2 0 Region 1998 NDHS 2.4 Education Level of the Household Population Tables 2.4.1 and 2.4.2 present information on the highest level of education attended by the population according to sex, age, residence, and region.