Kinship and Family Systems

Matrilocal Residence

Also Known As Uxorilocal Residence

Postmarital Residence Patterns

Matrilocal residence, also called uxorilocal residence, is the postmarital residence pattern in which a married couple resides with or near the wife's parents, so that children of the marriage are raised within the mother's extended matrilineal clan. It is found most often in horticultural societies and is documented among the Minangkabau of Sumatra, the Mosuo of China, the Khasi of India, and various Puebloan peoples of North America. It contrasts with patrilocal residence, with or near the husband's family, and avunculocal residence, with the husband's mother's brother, both already on this atlas, and research finds it correlated with an increased female contribution to subsistence, though a rise in non-sororal polygyny driven by the same economic shift can in turn erode matrilocality. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts

Descent Rulethe subject's own account

A married couple resides with or near the wife's parents, and children are raised by the mother's extended matrilineal clan; the pattern is most often found alongside matrilineal descent and horticultural subsistence economies. 1

Typical Regionthe subject's own account

Documented among the Minangkabau of Sumatra, the Mosuo of China, the Khasi of India, and various Puebloan peoples of North America; found most often in horticultural societies. 1

Descent Rule

Descent Rule (category)the subject's own account

Matrilineal Descent 1

Connections

Held Differently

Avunculocal Residence

Both residence patterns are found chiefly in matrilineal societies but differ in whose household a couple joins: the wife's parents here versus the husband's maternal uncle there.