Post on 16-Dec-2015
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A lack of assets can exacerbate & perpetuate the negative welfare effects of marital shocks
In Africa, women marry young & much older husbands;
Widowhood is a common & potentially devastating shock for women & their children
– Evidence that widows & past widows are significantly worse off & less able to provide for their children.
– Similar patterns for divorcees– Lower welfare persists through remarriage. – Detrimental effects are passed on to children
Dominique van de Walle World Bank June 2012
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• Women typically …
– Have lower individual endowments– lower access to & control over household & community
resources/assets – Face more rigid social norms– Have lower legal protection
Hence women have little capacity to cope with marital shocks & limited options…
Why?
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A widow’s options:
• In some regions (e.g. Mali, Burkina, Senegal), widows remarry, often into polygamous h’holds as lower status wives– One option: levirate marriage; allows her to keep children
• Elsewhere (e.g. South Eastern Nigeria), widows do not remarry; often shunned, ostracized, dispossessed.
In such circumstances, assets (human, physical, financial) are a life saver
Senegal– Importance of a shelter/dwelling – Education or job– Sons– Gratuity/pension– Parents/brothers alive & willing to take in the widow & her children
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Operational and Policy implications
Difficulty of changing the situation through laws: • low awareness; • lack of access to formal judicial system; lack of financial
resources to mount legal challenge• social pressures to conform to traditional norms; risks to widow• fear of reprisals from lineage for violating customary law
Serious source of vulnerability and intergenerational transmission of poverty– safety nets should take this into account
Independence & greater certainty through a steady source of income would give widows more control over their & their children’s destinies.