Dr Matiur Rahman :
The number of female-headed households has increased dramatically in the recent half-century, especially in developing countries, due to divorce, spouse death, addiction or disability of husband, increased life expectancy among women, migration, or being abandoned by husband. According to worldwide statistics, the rates of female-headed households in different countries vary.
In Bangladesh, the number of female-headed families has increased in one year in both urban and rural areas. According to the report of “Bangladesh Sample Vital Statistics-2020” of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), it has been seen that female-headed families have increased more in urban areas. The number of female-headed families in the city has increased by 40 per cent. In rural areas, it has increased by 30 per cent. In 2020, the number of female-headed households in rural areas was 15.4 per cent which is 90 per cent more than the city.
Development and social change have led to changes in family structure. One of these changes is the formation of single-head or single-parent families. The head of the household is usually responsible for all or most of the household income and expenses or deciding how to spend the household income and is not necessarily the oldest member of the household and may be male or female. A female head of household refers to a woman in charge of managing the family as a result of divorce, separation, immigration, or widowhood.
Analyzing the religion-based data, it can be seen that the number of female-headed families has increased in the Hindu community. In 2020, 11 per cent of Hindu households were headed by women. Which is 2.3 per cent more than in 2019. At the same time, the rate among Muslims has increased by only 0.1 per cent. Considering the state of education in the family, it can be seen that the number of female-headed households in secondary educated families has decreased in 2020 as compared to the previous year.
Overall, at present, out of every 100 families in Bangladesh, at least 15 are headed by a female. But in Bangladesh traditionally the head of the family is usually male. The number of women taking charge of the head of the family is now much higher than before. More than 33 per cent of female-headed households are under 15 years of age or younger. BBS Report mentioned that a surprising change in the headship status by sex is noted in 2020 among those who are under 15 years old. While in 2019 survey, only 11 per cent of females under 15 years of age shared the responsibility as household heads, this increased to 33.3 per cent in 2020. Ten years ago, the female-headed household rate was about 10 per cent.
BBS report also reported that Bangladesh society is primarily a male-dominant society and as a consequence of this, most families are headed by males. However, this feature is changing over time. Overall, 85 per cent of the households are headed by males and the remaining 15 per cent by their counterparts women, there being virtually no change in the headship type since its last two surveys conducted in 2018 and 2019.
But why the female-headed families are increasing? BBS report has mentioned several causes such as the death of husband as the only earning member, ineligibility of the man to run his family for any number of reasons, divorce or abandonment, husbands working abroad and greater employability of women in certain sectors.
Several studies revealed that there is a general perception that women are socially more vulnerable than men because of higher poverty rates and fewer job opportunities, and this perception is more widespread for female-headed households due to fears of intergenerational poverty transmission. Female-headed households are forced to play multiple, conflicting roles after losing their spouses, and have to work in marginal, part-time, informal, and low-income jobs due to lack of access to high-paying jobs.
These women are unable to maintain their health due to problems such as poverty, poor socioeconomic status and multiple responsibilities. As a result, they experience more high-risk behaviours and lower quality of life and family satisfaction. They also suffer from stress, mental disorders, depression, drug abuse, and financial and cultural poverty. Female-headed households are highly vulnerable and experience many problems such as low income, widespread economic problems, mental, neurological and physical disorders and isolation. They have poor health and quality of life, and the most critical factors associated with this low quality of life are low literacy and chronic diseases.
Considering the above circumstances experts opined that if the current trend is continued, by 2030, the number of female-headed families will be 25 per cent in Bangladesh. Thus, social changes could take place with changes in family structure. They also suggested taking this as an issue and making policies and programs accordingly to reduce the increasing number of female-headed families.
(The writer is a researcher and development worker).
