Les ménages complexes en Polynésie française. Résistance à la nucléarisation ou adaptation à la "modernité" ?

Abstract

The nuclear family model of cohabitation has become the norm in modernised Western societies. With the onset of the second demographic transition, with fertility decline and separations increase, other forms of cohabitation have appeared in the statistical nomenclature: childless couples, single persons, single-parent families became the focus of attention, other forms of cohabitation relegated in the 'complex households' category, considered a pre-transitional relic. In French Polynesia, however, it represents more than a quarter of households, i.e. 6.5 times more than in metropolitan France. At first sight, this over-representation of complex households in Polynesia could be explained by a different position in the demographic transitions, Polynesia being, according to this hypothesis, in an earlier phase of demographic transformations, relative to metropolitan France. However, in an archipelagic territory where schooling facilities, health establishments and the rare employment opportunities are extremely concentrated in the most central areas, migrating to attend school, find work and receive treatment is essential and co-residence of family members represents a primary resource. This article explores the reasons for such overrepresentation of the coresidence in complex household by studying both conflicting hypothesis of pre-transitional archaism and that of adaptation to the constraints of the territory, based on ethnographic data collected in the 1920s and 1960s and census data collected in the 21st century.

Keywords

• complex household
• demographic transition
• diffusion
• French Polynesia
• census data