The ‘dynamics’ of household structure and size in the Northern Dutch countryside around 1840

In the relatively modern Groningen clay area 10% of the households were complex, from which 6.5% comprised three generations in 1830-1850. The share of three-generation households had risen considerably from the end of the eighteenth century onward due to falling ages at marriage increasing the number of potential three-generation households. Multiple households were rare. The presence of complex households mostly had to do with the caring for old aged or others and the temporary solution of housing problems of young couples. Rarely, three-generation households were used as a system to transfer the house to the next generation. Although a substantial number lived solitary, most old-aged lived together with at least one of their off-spring or another relative. Complex households were not a traditional feature, but functioned efficiently as an important caring institute for old-aged in this market-oriented rural region