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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Does marital status matter? Support, personal autonomy and economic power among Abaluyia widows in Kenya | | Author(s) | Maria G Cattell |
| Journal title | Southern African Journal of Gerontology, vol 5, no 2, October 1996 |
| Pages | pp 20-26 |
| Keywords | Widows ; Older women ; Marital status ; Independence ; Economic status [elderly] ; Family care ; Kenya ; Africa. |
| Annotation | This article considers issues of personal and economic power among African women in regard to their marital situation. Since marriage is usually crucial to young African women's gaining access to resources, the question whether marital status matter in later life is explored, as is the status of widowhood. A brief description of widowhood worldwide is followed by material from research among older Abaluyia women in Kenya, among whom widowhood offers advantages which today are leading some Abaluyia women to choose widowhood over remarriage. Finally, the discussion is broadened to a consideration of widows in other sub-Saharan African countries. While some African women's situation becomes precarious with the loss of a husband, others prefer not to be married for a variety of reasons relating to personal autonomy, control of resources, and dependency on kin for security. The article concludes that while marital status among older African women seem to matter, the status preferred may be that of widowhood, when it results in the empowerment of the widow and does not threaten her personal security. |
| Accession Number | CPA-971113231 A |
| Classmark | SP: BD: SLM: C3: F:W: P6:SJ: 7LD: 7J |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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