Housing Characteristics and Household Population •
11
A total of 192,389 individuals stayed overnight in the 24,395 interviewed households in the 2015 AfDHS.
Forty-nine percent of them 93,963 were female,
and 51 98,426 were male Table 2.7. The population pyramid in Figure 2.5 shows their
distribution by five-year age groups and sex. The broad base of the pyramid indicates that
Afghanistan’s population is young, which is typical of countries with high fertility rates. Forty-seven
percent of the population is under age 15, while 3
of residents are age 65 or older Table 2.7.
The average size of households in Afghanistan is 8.0
persons Table 2.8. Urban households are slightly
smaller than rural households 7.7 persons versus 8.2 persons. Men head most of Afghan households 98, with only 2 of households headed by women.
2.7 B
IRTH
R
EGISTRATION Registered birth
Child has a birth certificate or his or her birth has been registered with the civil authority.
Sample: De jure children under age 5
Forty-two percent of children under age 5 had their births registered with the civil authority at the time of
the survey, and 20 had a birth certificate Table 2.9. Boys and girls are equally likely to have their
births registered and to have a birth certificate. There is evidence that registration may have improved
recently: half of children under age 2 were registered, as compared with 38 of those age 2-4. Registration
of births varies widely across provinces. Children are most likely to have their births registered in Badghis
78 and least likely in Nooristan less than 1. Birth registration increases with increasing
household wealth Figure 2.6.
2.8 C
HILDREN
’
S
L
IVING
A
RRANGEMENTS AND
P
ARENTAL
S
URVIVAL Orphan
A child with one or both parents dead Sample: Children under age 18
Figure 2.5 Population pyramid
Figure 2.6 Birth registration by wealth
10 6
2 2
6 10
5 5-9
10-14 15-19
20-24 25-29
30-34 35-39
40-44 45-49
50-54 55-59
60-64 65-69
70-74 75-79
80+
Age
Percent distribution of the household population
Male Female
2 6
12
10
30 31
35 48
70 42
Lowest Second
Middle Fourth
Highest Total
Percentage of children under age 5 whose births are registered with the civil authorities
Wealthiest Poorest
12
• Housing Characteristics and Household Population
Four percent of Afghan children under age 18 are orphaned, meaning that one or both of their parents
