UNITED STATES
Population: 263.1 million
Population per physician: 630
Literacy rate: female - 95%; male - 96%
Rank of affluence among United Nations members: 9
The Skeen Family
Size of family: 4
Size of home: 1600 sq. ft.
Workweek:
father - 40 hours
mother - 20 hours, plus housework
Per person income: $22, 356
Percentage of income spent on food: 9%
Although the Skeen family has never been robbed, their precautions against crime include locked doors, a home alarm system, carrying Mace, and using a lock bar for their car steering wheel.
Number of:
radios - 3
stereos - 3
telephones - 5
televisions - 2
VCRs - 1
computers - 1
bicycles - 4
automobiles - 3
Most valued possession:
Bible (father and mother)
Wishes for the future: tools, new carpet, camping
trailer
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MEXICO
Population: 93.7 million
Population per physician: 1,001
Literacy rate: female - 85%; male 90%
Rank of affluence among United Nations members: 51
The Castillo Balderas Family
Size of family: 6
Size of home: 700 sq. ft.
Workweek:
father - 36 hours salaried, plus freelance welding
mother - 60 hours, in home
Per person income: $2,971
Percentage of income spent on food: 57%
Percentage of income spent on clothing : 28 %
Their neighbourhood was once a squatter's camp, in which permanent homes were gradually built by residents who acquired established jobs. Because of this, the Castillo Balderas family water supply is a garden hose that brings water several hundred yard from a water main to the courtyard of their home.
Number of:
stereos - 2
telephones - 0
televisions - 1
VCRs - 1
bicycles - 3
automobiles - 0
Most valued possessions:
television (family as a
whole)
stereo (father)
Bible (mother)
bicycle (first son)
Wishes for the future:
truck
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MALI
Population: 10.8 million
Population per physician: 19, 450
Literacy rate: female - 24% male - 41%
Rank of affluence among United Nations members: 162
The Natomo Family
Size of family: 11
Size of home: 990 sq. ft. (two units)
Workweek:
father - 112 hours
mother -112 hours (all in the home)
Per person income: $251
Percentage of income spent on food: 57%
The Natomo family's daily life includes carrying water from a communal well, bathing from a bucket, pounding grain to make flour, and cooking over ran open fire. Mr. Natomo enjoys listening to soccer games on the family radio.
Number of:
radios - 1
telephones - 0
televisions - 0
VCRs - 0
bicycles - 1
automobiles - 0
Most valued possession:
bicycle (father)
Wishes for the future:
irrigation system, motorcycle,
a wall to enclose their garden
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VIETNAM
Population: 73.8 million
Population per physician: 2857
Literacy rate: female - 84%; male 92%
Rank of affluence among United Nations members: 165
The Nguyen Family
Size of family: 5
Size of home: 860 sq. ft.
Workweek:
father & mother -119 hours
(17 hours per day, no
holidays)
Per person income: $215
Percentage of income spent on food: 55%
The Nguyen family lives on a communal farm that grows, harvests, and polishes rice. Their television is shared with about 15 relatives. They have no means of waste disposal, as the family throws nothing away.
Number of:
radios - 0
telephones - 0
televisions - 1 ( shared)
VCRs - 0
bicycles - 2
automobiles - 0
Most valued possession:
house (father)
Children's health (mother)
Wishes for the future:
their own TV, radio, new
beds, a motorcycle
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GERMANY
Population: 81.3 million
Population per physician: 370
Literacy rate: not available
Rank of affluence among United Nations members: 14
The Pfitzner Family
Size of family: 4
Size of home: 925 sq. ft.
Workweek:
father - 40 hours
mother - 50 hours, all at home
Per person income: $19204
Percentage of income spent on food: 40%
The lives of the Pfitzner family are in many ways much like those of an average family in the U.S., and they family's home, appliances, and toys are much like ours.
Number of:
radios - 3
tape recorders - 1
televisions - 1
VCRs - 1
video cameras -1
motorcycles - 1
automobiles - 1
Most valued possessions:
family memorabilia (parents)
Wishes for the future:
new refrigerator, house in the
country, cleaner environment
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GUATEMALA
Population: 10.6 million
Population per physician: 2,256
Literacy rate: female - 66%; male - 61%
Rank of affluence among United Nations members: 114
The Calabay Sicay Family
Size of family: 5
Size of home: 316 sq. ft.
Workweek:
father - 60 hours
mother - "constantly"
Per person income: $944
Percentage of income spent on food: 66%
The Calabay Sicays are a Mayan family who have never been more than 30 miles from their home. They garden, catch fish in the nearby lake, and weave cloth from which they make most of their won clothes, blankets, and carrying bags.
Number of:
radios - 1
telephones - 0
televisions - 0
automobiles - 0
Most valued possessions:
portable cassette player (father)
religious painting, Bible (mother)
dolls (daughters)
soccer ball (son)
Wishes for the future:
"to stay alive" also television,
pots and pan, kitchen table
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ALBANIA
Population: 3.4 million
Population per physician: 719
Literacy rate: 99%
Rank of affluence among United Nations members: 103
The Cakoni Family
Size of family: 6
Size of home: 432 sq. ft.
Workweek:
father - 84 hours
mother - 21- 28 hours per week
Per person income: $1,200
Percentage of income spent on food: 100%
The Cakoni family cooks in pots made from large tin cans, with wire handles. Their water supply is a daily 40 minute donkey ride. The children walk three hours round trip to school each day. On television, they watch programs from neighbouring Italy, a much more affluent nation.
Number of:
radios - 1
telephones - 0
televisions - 1
VCRs - 0
bicycles - 0
automobiles - 0
Most valued possessions:
TV (for all)
Wishes for the future:
(not stated)
______________________________________
SOUTH AFRICA
Population: 42.7 million
Population per physician: 1640
Literacy rate: not available
Rank of affluence among United Nations members: 58
The Qampie Family
Size of family: 7
Size of home: 400 sq. ft.
Workweek:
father - 40 hours
mother - 10 hours plus housework
Per person income: $2,543
Percentage of income spent on food: 34%
The township in which the Qampie family lives is permeated by violence. By 8:00 p.m., the family stops venturing outside, even to their backyard outhouse. They close up the house and lock it up tight, although this makes it sweltering hot inside.
Number of:
radios - 1
telephones - 1 (broken)
televisions - 1
VCRs - 0
automobiles - 0
Most valued possessions:
(not stated)
Wishes for the future:
typewriter, computer
(children)
house, car (parents)
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CHINA
Population: 1,238.3 million
Population per physician: 730
Literacy rate: female - 62%; male - 84%
Rank of affluence among United Nations members: 149
The Wu Family
Size of family: 9
Size of home: 600 sq. ft.
Workweek:
all adults - 60 hours
Per person income: $364
Percentage of income spent on food: 60%
The Wu family includes the grandparents, their two sons ages 25 and 30, and the sons' wives and children. In a pond beside the house, the family raises fish to eat and sell. Clothes are washed in a nearby stream. Each night, the family watches two to four hours of television together.
Number of:
radios - 2
portable cassette players - 2
telephones - 0
televisions - 1
automobiles - 0
Most valued possessions:
TV (parents, first son)
bicycle (second son)
Wishes for the future:
TV with 30" screen, VCR,
refrigerator, more tools
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RUSSIA
Population: 149.7 million
Population per physician: 210
Literacy rate: 99%
Rank of affluence among United Nations members: 48
The Kapralov Family
Size of family: 3
Size of home: 1500 sq. ft.
Workweek:
father - (deceased)
mother - 42 hours plus
housework
Per person income: $3,469
Percentage of income spent on food: 60%
Although Mr. Kapralov was recently killed by thieves, the rest of the family must continue their lives. The children play in the snow, take music lessons, and play chess and other games.
Number of:
radios - 2
stereos - 1
telephones - 2
televisions - 2
VCRs - 0
automobiles - 1 (broken)
Most valued possessions:
domra - a musical
instrument (mother)
Video games, books, stuffed
animal, Barbie doll (daughters)
Wishes for the future:
to repair the family car so that
it can be used
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KUWAIT
Population: 1.2 million
Population per physician: 238
Literacy rate: female - 67%; male 77%
Rank of affluence among United Nations members: 21
The Abdulla Family
Size of family: 7
Size of home: 4850 sq. ft.
Workweek:
father - 50 hours
first daughter - 60 hours
second daughter - 45 hours
Per person income: $16,380*
Percentage of income spent on food: 29%
Its petroleum reserves have made Kuwait on of the richest nations on Earth. As his children in their teens and 20's watch MTV on the satellite dish, shop at the mall, and cruise the freeways talking on their cellular phones, Mr. Abdulla worries that Kuwait has become such a consumption-oriented society.
Number of:
radios - 4
telephones - 5
televisions - 2
VCRs - 2
computers - 1
automobiles - 4
Most valued possessions:
(not stated)
Wishes for the future:
fishing boat,
more income,
more vacation
time
* Income figure includes "guest-workers" of other nationalities, many of whom are servants for Kuwaitis, such as the two live-in servants who work for the Abdullas.
