WOMEN-HEADED HOUSEHOLDS

WOMEN-HEADED HOUSEHOLDS

Also by Sylvia Chant GENDER AND MIGRATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES (editor) GENDER, URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING WOMEN AND SURVIVAL IN MEXICAN CITIES WOMEN IN THE THIRD WORLD (with Lynne Brydon) WOMEN OF A LESSER COST (with Cathy Mcllwaine)

Women-Headed Households Diversity and Dynamics in the Developing World Sylvia Chant Reader in Geography London School of Economics and Political Science University of London Consultant Editor: Jo Campling

First published in Great Britain 1997 by MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978-0-333-64068-5 ISBN 978-0-230-37804-9 DOl 10.1057/9780230378049 First published in the United States of America 1997 by ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC., Scholarly and Reference Division, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Chant, Sylvia H. Women-headed households / Sylvia Chant. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. I. Women heads of households. HQI381.C53 1997 305.42--dc20 I. Title. 96-38950 CIP Sylvia Chant 1997 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1997978-0-333-64067-8 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Coun Road, London WIP 9HE. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has assened her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. 1098765 06 05 04 03 02 01 432 I 00 99 98 97

Contents List of Tables List of Figures Preface and Acknowledgements vi vii viii 1 Introduction: Why Women-Headed Households? 1 2 Conceptual Context and Core Debates 30 3 Women-Headed Households in Global Perspective 69 4 Women-Headed Households and Development 89 5 Mexico, Costa Rica and the Philippines: National Perspectives 114 6 Female Headship and the Urban Poor: Case Study Perspectives 153 7 Victims or Survivors? 194 8 Growing Up in Women-Headed Households 226 9 Whither Women-Headed Households? Directions for Theory, Research and Policy 256 Bibiliography 283 Index 322 v

List of Tables Table 5.1 Table 5.2 Table 5.3 Table 5.4 Table 5.5 Table 5.6 Table 5.7 Table 5.8 Table 7.1 Table 7.2 Table 7.3 Mexico: percentage distribution of female and male household head by age cohorts, 1990 115 Mexico, Costa Rica and the Philippines: selected gender indicators 116 Mexico, Costa Rica and the Philippines: selected economic and demographic characteristics, 1990s 118 Female share of total employment in Mexico, Costa Rica and the Philippines, 1977-92 121 Mexico: mean sex ratios according to size of settlement, 1970 and 1990 122 Costa Rica: percentage distribution of female and male household heads by age cohorts, 1993 129 The Philippines: percentage distribution of female and male household heads by age cohorts, 1990 139 The Philippines: population, urbanisation, sex ratios, female employment and female household headship by region, 1990 142 Ideal characteristics of marriage partners according to interviewees in Mexican case study settlements 216 Ideal characteristics of marriage partners according to interviewees in Costa Rican case study settlements 217 Ideal characteristics of marriage partners according to interviewees in Philippine case study settlements 219 vi

List of Figures Fig 5.1 Factors influencing the formation of female-headed households in Mexico, Costa Rica and the Philippines 148 Fig 6.1 Mexico: Location of case study centres 156 Fig 6.2 Costa Rica: Location of case study centres 166 Fig 6.3 Philippines: Location of case study centres 178 vn

Preface and Acknowledgements I first became interested in women-headed households back in 1982 when I went to Mexico as a PhD student. From then on, the subject became ever more fascinating as my research extended to Costa Rica and, later, the Philippines. It was always my idea to conduct comparative research on gender and development and writing this book has provided the first major opportunity to draw together insights gathered in the course of various projects related to women and poverty during nearly one and a half decades. Had it not been for a year's sabbatical between October 1994 and October 1995 provided by a Nuffield Foundation Social Science Research Fellowship, the present endeavour may not have been possible, and I am extremely grateful to the Foundation for their assistance, as well as to the Geography Department at the LSE for supporting my leave. I am also indebted to Dr Jo Campling who encouraged me to write the book and who was a patient and supportive editor. During my sabbatical year, I made return visits to all three countries, and am particularly grateful for the friendship and assistance provided during this time by Polly de Fraene, Prof Marielos Molina and Dr Carolyn Hall in Costa Rica, by Dr Mercedes Gonzalez de la Rocha, Ezequiel Bajonero, Florence Martin and Patty Jeffs in Mexico, and Nonoy and Karen Gelito in the Philippines. I also spent a great deal of time in the homes of women in lowincome communities in Liberia and Canas, Costa Rica, in Puerto Vallarta and Queretaro, Mexico and in Boracay, the Philippines. Without their cooperation, my knowledge and understanding of the pains, pleasures and predicaments of female household headship would have been far less rich and vivid than they currently are. I am indebted to them for their openness and generosity with time and information, not to mention their hospitality. Since the book is not just a product of one but several years' research, it is also appropriate to thank the organisations who funded the key projects which led up to the present one, notably the Nuffield Foundation, the Economic and Social Research Council, the Leverhulme Trust, the British Academy, and the Suntory-Toyota International Centre for Economics and Related Disciplines. I am also grateful for the assistance of Dr Cathy Mcllwaine, Dr Sarah Bradshaw and Dr Nandini Dasupta in connection with fieldwork and data analysis for my project in Costa Rica in 1989, and to Emma Galvez, Tessie Sato and Nonoy Gelito for the project in the Philippines in 1993. Vlll

Preface and Acknowledgements IX I received considerable help, advice and feedback on ideas and drafts of the text from Professor Nancy Folbre, University of Massachusetts, Dr Lynne Brydon, University of Birmingham, Dr Ros Gill, Goldsmiths College, University of London, Dr Patricia Jeffery, University of Edinburgh, Dr Simon Duncan, University of Bradford, Dr Penny Vera-Sanso, University of Kent at Canterbury, David Satterthwaite, International Institute for Environment and Development, Eleni Stamiris, Director of Women and Youth Affairs, Commonwealth Secretariat, and Dr Diane Perrons, Cecilia Tacoli and Hazel Johnstone at the London School of Economics. Above all, I owe major gratitude to Dr Cathy Mcllwaine, Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London, who found the time and patience to discuss ideas and to read and comment extensively on chapters at the early (and sometimes indecipherable!) stages. Thanks are also due to Mina Moshkiri of the LSE Drawing Office for artwork. I would like to dedicate the book to Rebecca Chapman, and her three children Laurie, Ramsey and Hamish, for meeting their unforeseen and untimely entry to female household headship with consummate strength. Sylvia Chant May 1996