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A lack of assets can exacerbate & perpetuate the negative welfare effects of marital shocks

A lack of assets can exacerbate & perpetuate the negative welfare effects of marital shocks. Dominique van de Walle World Bank June 2012 _________________________________________________________. In Africa, women marry young & much older husbands;

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A lack of assets can exacerbate & perpetuate the negative welfare effects of marital shocks

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  1. A lack of assets can exacerbate & perpetuate the negative welfare effects of marital shocks Dominique van de Walle World Bank June 2012 _________________________________________________________ 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

  2. Why? • 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…

  3. 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

  4. 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.

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