Female-led family perils
Dar es Salaam. An increasing number of families across Tanzania are now being headed by a woman, a trend marking what could be the beginning of an end to the traditional, married, male breadwinner family model, a recent national survey reveals.
Unfortunately, more and more of the female-headed families are being trapped in poverty, according to the 2017/18 Household Budget Survey findings released in Dodoma last week.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) survey, not only has the proportion of female-headed families increased from 25 per cent in 2011/12 to 28 per cent, poverty among such households has also jumped from 20 per cent to 27 per cent.
The Household Budget Survey was conducted by the NBS in partnership with the World Bank, UN Women, Unicef and Global Affairs Canada (GAC).
Analysts have suggested that the findings are a wake-up call to the authorities to step up women empowerment efforts to address the problem of unequal opportunities.
Ms Mwajuma Hamza, director of the Tanzania Women Chamber of Commerce, says development interventions should focus on ensuring equal opportunities for women and men in all sectors.
“Tanzania needs to wisely carve a future where both women and men can thrive even in the event that one has to assume the responsibility of taking care of the family as in the case with Mauraza,” Ms Hamza said. The Statistician General at NBS, Dr Albina Chuwa, said the rise in female-headed households is not peculiar to Tanzania, but a global trend, that is serious in the Southern African region.
“More women are in a situation where they have to raise their families alone in our region. But looking at our context here in Tanzania, the government is providing opportunities for the development of women in various sectors,” she said.
“I would like to encourage women to utilise these opportunities and better their families.”
Dr Chuwa added the need for people to also take advantage of government’s policy on free primary and secondary education to further improve literacy among women.
“Education is key for the development of women, and the provision of free primary and secondary education in public schools is one way of ensuring that girls remain in school. Over the years, we know that due to some factors, such as payment of school fees, the education of some girls was negatively affected.” (Read full feature in Life & Style)
