Changes in Industrial Structure and Family Life

The industrial structure of an economy refers, in most cases, to the proportion and composition of its industries. In particular, the relative sizes of primary, secondary and tertiary industries are often regarded as important points of reference. According to the classification shown in Table 3.1, primary industry contains mainly agriculture as well as forestry and fisheries. Secondary industry comprises mainly manufacturing plus construction and mining. Tertiary industry broadly includes commerce, finance, insurance, real estate agencies and other services. Tertiary industry is often treated as the service industry in a broad sense, and is compared with the relative position of agriculture and manufacturing. The recent increasing size of the tertiary industry in advanced countries has attracted attention as the growth of service economy or de-industrialization.