PIP: Events related to the family, especially those involving children, are of extreme importance in the study of demographic evolution. A varied typology of families coexist in Colombia in addition to the traditional family based on a married couple. Colombia, like many Western countries, is undergoing a process of change in the patterns of family composition and structure. In the past 2 decades, nonmarital cohabitation has replaced marriage and traditional consensual union as the most accepted form of union among young people. Separation and divorce have led to one-parent families and successive unions, with children of different unions living together. Data from the 1995 National Survey of Demography and Health revealed that the proportions of nuclear and compound families have declined, while incomplete families headed by women, one-parent households, and nuclear households of childless couples have increased. The great majority of households still contain related persons. Consensual unions have increased and are predominant among women under age 30. 58% of families were nuclear, 30% were extended, 5.5% were compound, and 6.5% were one-person households. The proportion of households headed by women increased from 20% in 1978 to 25% in 1995. 64% of minors lived with both parents, 23% lived with the mother, and 2.4% lived with the father. 20% of children born during 1990-95 were conceived outside of a stable union. 58% of minors lived in poverty, with 35% living in extreme poverty. Households with minor children were poorer on average than households without minor children.