Good health is a physical asset and without it, it's impossible to make a living.
In practice, however, Oxfam has assumed that households are led by men or women in the 20 to 50 age range. It also assumed that household membership is based on marriage and family relationships, which may include children, elderly parents, and other members of an extended family. The increasingly visible impact of Aids in Southern Africa highlights a serious shortcoming in this method of household analysis. Those who fall sick are in the prime of life, and the same age as traditional household heads. When chronic illness and death strike, the composition of a household changes dramatically and affects the roles of household members.