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Lasting Welfare Effects of Widowhood in Mali

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  • van de Walle, Dominique

Abstract

Widows and their children are largely hidden from view in the data used to inform social policy discussions in Africa. Data for Mali reveal that households headed by widows have significantly lower living standards than other households in rural and urban areas. Furthermore, the welfare difference persists even after widows are absorbed into male headed households. An examination of individual measures of well-being further reveals that, relative to other women, worse outcomes for ever-widowed women persist through remarriage. These detrimental effects are passed on to children, suggesting an intergenerational transmission of poverty stemming from widowhood.

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  • van de Walle, Dominique, 2013. "Lasting Welfare Effects of Widowhood in Mali," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 1-19.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:51:y:2013:i:c:p:1-19
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2013.05.005
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    17. Kudo, Yuya, 2017. "Why Is the Practice of Levirate Marriage Disappearing in Africa? HIV/AIDS as an Agent of Institutional Change," IDE Discussion Papers 627, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    18. Lambert,Sylvie & Van De Walle,Dominique & Villar,Paola, 2017. "Marital trajectories and women's well-being in Senegal," Policy Research Working Paper Series 8230, The World Bank.
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    25. Kudo, Yuya, 2021. "Does criminalizing discriminatory cultural practices improve women’s welfare? A simple model of Levirate marriage in Africa," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).

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