ABSTRACT
This chapter presents two models of the relationship between class, culture and household structure which derive from the research into the family patterns of an ethnically divided white South African community as well as a consideration of the findings of American and other South African studies. It considers the question of explaining variation in household structure in a setting where the group which is purported to favour extended family arrangements is not subject to racial discrimination or of a lower socio-economic status than the group to which it is being compared. Allen's analysis of US census data on households revealed that there are both ethnic/racial and class differences in the propensity to live in particular household types. Conventional family structures are more common among whites than blacks and in the higher as opposed to lower socio-economic categories. Allen found that class was related to household structure, with conventional family structures being more common in the upper than lower socio-economic categories.
