In the Greco-Roman world the household was the basic unit of production as well as consumption. This chapter begins with a methodological discussion of the difficulties with the data sources. Next, the chapter presents an account of the demography of household formation and organization. It analyses the patterns of property ownership and management by gender and age in classical Athens and Roman Italy, and then of women's and children's labor in both societies. The stronger property rights of wealthy Roman women enhanced their social status, but it is not obvious that they much affected decisions about economic production. The participation of women and children in certain production sectors appears similar from fifth-century BC Athens to second century AD Rome. One index of economic growth per capita during this period is the improvement in productive techniques used by women. There are indications that from archaic Greece to the Roman Empire investment increased as institutionalized education and training beyond the family emerged.