Lasting Welfare Effects of Widowhood in a Poor Country

van de Walle, Dominique

关键词: ACCESS TO EMPLOYMENT;    ACCESS TO HEALTH;    ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE;    ADULT MEN;    ADULT WOMEN;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-5734
RP-ID  :  WPS5734

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Little is known about the situationfacing widows and their dependent children in West Africaespecially after the widow remarries. Women in Maliansociety are vulnerable to the loss of husbands especially inrural areas. Households headed by widows have significantlylower living standards on average than male or other femaleheaded households in both rural and urban areas; this holdsboth unconditionally and conditional on observable householdand individual characteristics including age. Furthermore,the adverse welfare effects of widowhood appear to persisteven after widows are absorbed into male headed households.An examination of individual measures of well-being furtherreveals that, relative to other women, worse outcomes forever-widowed women persist through remarriage. Thesedetrimental effects are passed on to children, indicating anintergenerational transmission of poverty stemming from widowhood.