The Survival Mechanisms o£ Female Household Heads in a Small Town of Et.hiopia: The Cese o£ Holote Genet.
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Date
1999-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Female household heads are common all round the world. Their
number is also increasing. Above all they are a severely disadvantaged group
of society both socially and economically. The urban female household heads,
in particular, are the most vulnerable group of the society to most of the urban
problems. This study, therefore, aims at assessing the socio-economic and
survival mechanisms of urban female household heads.
The town of Holota Genet is the study area. The data used in the study
was gathered through a questionnaire survey by considering 122 female
household heads. About 64 percent of the respondents were widows and 26
percent were divorcees. The rest (10%) became household heads because of
other reasons.
All of the respondents were engaged in the informal sector at the time
of the survey. As a common feature of this sector, the income of the
respondents was relatively very low. Most of the respondents reported that
they have decreased their level of participation in traditional savings such as
Idir and Iqub because of their financial constraints.
The divorcees were more likely to engage in prostitution than the
widowed. The widows, on the other hand, were more likely to own their
dwelling units than the divorcees.
The female household heads use various survival mechanisms. Some
of them send their children to work in order to generate income. Some others
have given their children to adoptive parents and relatives. Remarriage,
geographic mobility, sale of assets, diversification of items of sale, borrowing
of money and cohabitation with male partners are also commonly observed
among the female household heads.
Among the identified survival mechanisms, borrowing money was
reported by almost all of the respondents. Change of residence, change of
occupation and giving away children to adoptive parent followed it in
importance.
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Keywords
Survival Mechanisms of Female Household