Post Marital Residency Rules

-One of the biggest questions that

newlyweds have to answer is where to live
and build a family after marriage. Every
society has it own rules and traditions on
post-marital residency. Anthropology has
identified seven major residency
patterns:patrilocal, matrilocyal,
avuncolocal ,neolocal, natalocal,matrifocal
,and andambilocal.
• Patrilocal Residence
Upon marriage, the woman is expected to
transfer to residence of her husband’s father.
Her children will be raised by her husband’s
family and be integrated to their lineage,
allowing for the creation of a patrilineal
descent. Virilocal residence is is a subset of this
practice that focuses only on the transfer of the
woman from her parents’ residence to that her
husband’s without considerations for the
creation of a patrilineage.
• Matrilocal Residence

Upon marriage, the man expected to take

residence with his wife’s mother’s area, where
they are expected to raise their children and
integrate them to the maternal line , creating a
matrilineal descent. Uxorilocal residence is a
less complex rule that merely requires the
husband to move in to his wife’s mother’s
household without consideration for the
creation of a matrilineage.
• Neolocal Residence

This is an arrangement that requires both

spouses to leave their households and create
their own at times even in a different locality.
This supports the creation of nuclear
households and is commonly experienced in
developed and industrialized societies. A
nuclear family essentially consists of parent and
a child.
• Avuncolocal Residence
-This complex residency pattern as if requires two
residence transfers. Upon marriage the couple
practices a form of virilocality and raises their children
in the household of the husband’s father. However,
upon reaching adulthood, these children have to be
relocated with their mother’s and brother and live
with him and his household which may consist of his
wife and young children and the other adult male
offspring of his sisters. This practice allows for the
creation of a patrilineage.
• Natalocal Residence
-This arrangement allows both spouses to remain
with their own households after marriage. The couple
will have to arrange for meetings as the two are not
living under one household. Their children are
allowed to choose which household they would join.
Should they choose to join their father’s household,
they will be integrated in a patrilineal descent.
However if they decide to join their mother’s
household ,they will be made part of a matrilineal
descent.
• Matrifocal Residence
This type of residency rule arises when the
father is economically and physically unable to
provide support for the family, thereby ascribing
the role of sole provider and caregiver to the
woman. In this situation, all of the children
reside with their mother who is part of her
mother’s household. This is different form the
concept of uxorilocality or even matrilocality,as
both patterns allow for the cohabitation of the
husband and the wife.
• Ambilocal Residence

- This type of residence pattern allows the

couple to choose to live either with the wife’s
mother area. This often creates an extended
family, as several married children and married
couples may cohabit in one household.
• Transnational Families

- Due to globalization and transnational movements of

people, families tend to practice alternative forms of
residency patterns that are not based on lineage
perpetuation, but more so on economic reasons such as job
offers, educational advancement, and job placements. This
creates transnational families or families whose members
reside separately across territories. The overseas Filipino
worker (OFW) phenomenon experienced by a considerable
number of Filipinos contribute to growing number of
transnational families as Filipino parents reside outside the
country to work while their children remain in the home
country to study.