Living with extended family: a widespread practice in French Polynesia

Authors: Leïla Fardeau (French Institute for Demographic Studies) and Éva Lelièvre (French Institute for Demographic Studies)

While people in metropolitan France seldom live under the same roof with their parents and children, or cohabit with adult brothers and sisters, ‘complex’ households of this kind are very common in French Polynesia. To shed light on the factors behind their continued existence on these islands, Leïla Fardeau and Éva Lelièvre draw on 2017 census data to describe their composition and sociodemographic characteristics.

While urbanization and economic development initially contributed to a nuclearization of households, these changes have not weakened the many traditional kinship obligations, among which hospitality plays a central role. Despite major transformations in Polynesian society and in family structure over recent decades, the proportion of complex households has remained stable since 1996 and even increased slightly between 2007 and 2017.

Four in 10 Polynesians (41%) lived in complex households in 2017. In that year, a quarter of all households in Polynesia were complex compared with just 4% in metropolitan France, while relatively few people lived alone. One-person households accounted for just 15% of households in French Polynesia versus 36% in metropolitan France.

The composition of complex households

These households include a large share of young adults and people facing economic insecurity due to a lower-than-average level of education and a higher risk of unemployment.

These forms of coresidence alleviate the consequences of economic and housing insecurity. It appears that people living alone are more likely to occupy makeshift and very insecure dwellings.

That said, extended family coresidence presents other risks, such as overcrowding. This may occur when several family nuclei live together in an unsuitable home, in urban areas especially, where dwellings are smaller and where 50% of the French Polynesian population now live.

Sources: This study draws on data from the 2017 census of French Polynesia, conducted by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) with the support of the Statistical Institute of French Polynesia (ISPF). 

Published on: 29/11/2023