Abstract : This work assesses the prevalence and spread of female-headed households in Africa and presents case studies from Benin and Cameroon to illustrate the different contributions to the study of the problem made possible by a macrodemographic, census-based analysis and a qualitative biographic study at the individual level. The first section discusses the implications of the lack of a standard definition of "female head of household," especially in Africa, where the residential unit does not always coincide with the family unit. Data are few, but overall the proportion of female-headed households in Africa is estimated at around 20%, ranging from 6.5% in Burkina Faso to 45.9% in Botswana. In general, female-headed households are more common in east and southern Africa, but great fluctuations are observed within and between countries. As a rule, the proportions in urban and rural areas differ, with migration and other phenomena sometimes associated with higher prevalence in rural areas. The circumstances resulting in female-headed households are multiple, and their demographic and socioeconomic characteristics are thus highly variable. The average age of female heads is almost always higher than that of male heads and usually exceeds 40 years. The 1979 Benin census showed that the proportion of female household heads increased from 14.2% in 1961 to 20.6% in 1970. The census data demonstrated the great diversity of circumstances of female household heads. Some of the questions suggested by the data demand a more qualitative approach than is possible with census statistics. 35 female household heads interviewed in Yaounde in 1995 included single, married, divorced, and widowed women of all ages, with and without children. The women were employed in salaried positions, as traders, and elsewhere in the informal sector. Lengthy quotations from their survey responses shed light on their perceptions of the transitory or permanent nature of their household status, their view of the largely negative societal perceptions of female-headed households, and their strategies for reconstituting their identities and legitimizing their family and societal position. Such strategies included economic activity, membership in associations of different kinds, and assumption of responsibility for the upbringing of children of their kin.
Notes : Séminaire CEPED-ENSEA-INS-ORSTOM-URD, Lomé (TG), 1995/12/04-09; Français