CPD-UNFPA
Programme on Population and Sustainable
Development
Paper 10 (Summary)
Female-Headed Households in Rural
Bangladesh:
Strategies for Well-Being and Survival
M. A. Mannan
INTRODUCTION
In developing countries one of the
major target groups for poverty
alleviation is Female Headed Households
(FHHs). Of the 1.3 billion poor people
in the world about 70 percent are
women. Women are considered most
disadvantaged, particularly with
respect to education, labour, nutrition,
health etc. Bangladesh is known
to be one of the poorest countries
in the world and Bangladeshi women
are considered the poorest among
the poor. In most instances, the
deprived, illiterate and underprivileged
women who have to live in a patriarchal
social system that dominates Bangladesh
rural life tend to depend on men.
Many of these women, especially
in the rural areas in Bangladesh,
are married by the age of 18 and
usually get pregnant at a very early
age. The situation of women in rural
Bangladesh is particularly vulnerable
if these women have to bear the
burden of earning the family's livelihood.
It is from this perspective that
there is a need to look at the survival
and coping strategies of female
headed households.
Female Headed Households
According to various studies 15
percent of households in Bangladesh
are headed by women. Female headed
households in Bangladesh show an
increasing trend of landlessness
and limited access to basic services
and employment. Several factors
lead to households being headed
by women. These include absence
of a male earning member, transfer
or migration of earning members for
a long period, unemployment, chronic
illness of the earning male member
of the family.
The
study was conducted by the CPD
to assess the socio-economic and
livelihood situation of the FHHs,
how they cope with their situation,
their survival strategies and
also to identify avenues to address
their felt-needs.
OBJECTIVES
In brief, the objectives of the
study are three-fold:
- To understand the socio-economic
background of FHHs and the survival
strategies pursued by such households
- To identify the problems faced by the FHH.
- To identify policies and supportive
measures to address the attendant
problems.
METHODOLOGY
The study is based on both a secondary
literature survey and information
generated through a primary survey.
Primary data for this study was
generated from field surveys conducted
in three villages. Of the 1038 households
158 were FHHs and the remaining 880
were MHHs.
Village A was selected as an advantaged
village because of its access to electricity, irrigation, education,
good transportation, high yielding
varieties and other facilities.
Village B was selected to represent
villages that conform to the average
national patterns. Village C, a
special case, is a craft village
where working in the handloom sector
constituted the major economic activity.
Of all the villages this was the
poorest and it lacked the facilities
available in Villages A and B. The
survey was done in three phases:
Phase
1 involved a comprehensive study
of each household of each selected
village based on household
composition and the socio-economic
condition of the household head.
Phase 2 focused on all the female
households. It also included 79
male headed households. The survey
looked at household composition,
expenditure patterns, sale and
mortgage of property.
Phase 3 included 15 in-depth case
studies to look at social,
economic and political problems
faced by the FHHs which mainly
included widowed, divorced or destitute
women.
FINDINGS
The study found that on average
about 15 per
cent of the rural household
heads were women. Results evinced
from the case studies indicate that
the major sources of income of such
households were leasing land,
share cropping, cattle-fattening,
wage labour, and
running small businesses.
The study found that 58 percent of
women heading FHHs were illiterate compared to
men for which the corresponding
figure was 36 percent. Per capita
consumption level is 22 percent
higher in MHHs compared to FHHs.
Access of children to such facilities
as health services and school education
were much higher in MHHs compared
to FHHs.
The number of dropped-out
children was
higher and daily
attendance in school lower in FHHs. The study also indicates
that FHHs were economically poorer
compared to MHHs. Factors contributing
to such a state of affairs were
less control over land resources,
greater dependency on wage income,
higher involuntary unemployment,
illiteracy, low capacity of household
labour supply, less access to media,
unfamiliarity with the
market place
etc.
Of the 15 women
selected for case studies one woman was engaged in
raising poultry and in vegetable
gardening. One of the three divorced
women took a small loan from
a neighbour
and started a small business
selling powder and oil etc. to the village
women. She also depends on the
savings of her daughter who works
as a maid. She dreams of making
the business bigger with these
savings. It was identified from
the case studies that for their
survival, female-headed
households were mainly dependent
on paid household labour, service
work, road maintenance and self-employment
(husbandry and trading).
The
case studies also show that divorced,
widowed and destitute women find
it very difficult to maintain
their land and property - often
they are driven into landlessness
and indebtedness, especially
when they lack the support of a
grown up son who could earn. Lack
of education seemed to be one of
the most formidable problems which
constrained the ability of FHHs to survive economically. Yet
another problem FHHs faced was
in the area of raising their asset
status including both tangible
and intangible assets. The issue
of legal rights is
very important
for FHHs. The study came up with
the suggestion of specific legal
assistance for FHHs; the study came up with
the recommendation that NGOs should
come forward to address this need.
Credit facilities
and enhanced loans
were suggested in this respect.
Market contacts and links with
institutions outside the village
were also thought to be critical
to survival strategies of FHHs.
POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
Female-headed households (FHHs)
are clearly affected by the noted
gender biases in employment and
wages and, in general, are found
to have much less access to and
control over land, greater
dependency on wage labour for
employment, higher incidences
of involuntary unemployment,
and a lower level of education and
literacy than those headed by men.
Poor
FHHs are therefore vulnerable to
a number of structural risks
associated with their survival
strategies. A reduction of a household's
assets, which include 'claims'
(from kin, neighbours, patrons,
the government) increases a household's
vulnerability. The importance
of 'cultural resources' in negotiations
with community, market and state
regarding entitlements must be
given due consideration.
Legal
rights of FHHs are a vital area
of concern and this should form
an integral part of any future
government policy directed at
FHHs. For example, women need
to gain access to reliable assistance
in defending against the loss
of their property. There is an
important advocacy role for NGOs
in relation to areas such as this.
From
the findings it is apparent that
poverty is more pronounced in
FHHs compared to male-headed households
(MHHs). But most of the female
heads were willing to work even
outside the home. So initiatives
can be taken for creating the
opportunity of paid employment.
The facility and size of loans
to women according to their needs
for productive purposes should
be increased. Access to credit
needs to be made available to
women not just for low-profit
sex stereotyped activities but
also for all types of profitable
self-employment. Credit must be
accompanied by training for economic
development as well as social
development.
The
weakness of women's land rights
results in an inability to use
land as collateral to obtain access
to credit. Social and cultural
barriers, women's lower educational
levels relative to men, and their
lack of familiarity with loan
procedures may also limit their
mobility and interaction with
predominantly male credit officers
or moneylenders. These are some
of the aspects that need to be
properly addressed in any policy
aimed at improving the socio-economic
condition of female-headed households
in rural Bangladesh.
To obtain
the full text of this report
please contact:
Centre
for Policy Dialogue
Dialogue
and Communication Division
House No 40/C, Road No 11, Dhanmondi
R/A, Dhaka-1209 GPO Box 2129, Dhaka-1000,
Bangladesh
Tel: (+880 2) 8124770,9141734,9141703;
Fax: (+880 2) 8130951
E-mail: cpd@bdonline.com
Price:
Tk. 100.00 (The price quoted does
not include postal charges)
Pages: 38
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