peasantry of the Russian Empire

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.