family structure

This article compiles historical and demographic research on the structure of a peasant family in the North in the XVI - XVII centuries. Conclusions of the authors of the Soviet period are reviewed in accordance with the currently accepted classification of the families of Peter Lasletta. Special attention is paid to the peculiarities of methods of determining the family structure in the XVI century.

One of the less widespread variants of peasant households were single households. The economic, legal and cultural norms of the traditional agrarian society contradicted the emergence of structures of this type. However, they were constantly present in different regions of the country in different time periods. The aim of the work is to study peasant single households of the Saratov province of the late XIX century. In this connection the primary materials of the zemstvo household censuses of the 1880–1890s will be investigated.

 Fraternal households belong to the category of specific complex households consisting of cohabiting single-generation couples. As a rule, their appearance is the result of an unfulfilled family section for one reason or another. Due to their structural exoticism, fraternal families are easily identified and compared. At the same time, by virtue of their peculiarity, fraternal families are more likely unstable collectives, prone to disintegration.