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Marital Stability in Sub-Saharan Africa: Do Women’s Autonomy and Socioeconomic Situation Matter?

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  • Baffour Takyi
  • Christopher Broughton

Abstract

One key hypothesis that has received considerable attention in recent family discourse is the notion that improvements in women’s socioeconomic circumstances (also called female autonomy) has a positive effect on familial processes and outcomes such as marital instability. Absent from this debate are cross-cultural research that test the applicability of these findings with non-U.S. data. We use representative data from Ghana to explore whether dimensions of women’s autonomy have the hypothesized positive effect on divorce processes in Africa. Consistent with findings from the United States, results from our African data demonstrate that women’s autonomy has a positive effect on divorce. This observation is true not only with the use of conventional autonomy measures such as work and education, but also with regard to institutional measures of autonomy such as matrilineal kinship ties. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2006

Suggested Citation

  • Baffour Takyi & Christopher Broughton, 2006. "Marital Stability in Sub-Saharan Africa: Do Women’s Autonomy and Socioeconomic Situation Matter?," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 113-132, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jfamec:v:27:y:2006:i:1:p:113-132
    DOI: 10.1007/s10834-005-9006-3
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Ayala Wineman, 2019. "Women’s welfare and livelihoods outside of marriage: evidence from rural Tanzania," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 993-1024, September.
    2. Clifford O. Odimegwu & Joshua O. Akinyemi & Nicole Wet, 2017. "Premarital birth, children’s sex composition and marital instability among women in sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 34(4), pages 327-346, December.
    3. Benson John & Natalie Nitsche, 2022. "Marital life courses in sub-Saharan Africa: all cause union dissolution, its timing, and time spent outside marriage," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2022-017, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    4. Paul Tiffin & Mark Pearce & Carole Kaplan & Trian Fundudis & Louise Parker, 2007. "The Impact of Socio-economic Status and Mobility on Perceived Family Functioning," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 653-667, December.
    5. Lauren Gaydosh, 2015. "Childhood Risk of Parental Absence in Tanzania," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 52(4), pages 1121-1146, August.
    6. Jasmine Fledderjohann, 2017. "Difficulties Conceiving and Relationship Stability in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Case of Ghana," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 33(1), pages 129-152, February.
    7. Bilampoa Gnoumou, 2017. "Union breakdown in West African cities: The cases of Ouagadougou and Lomé," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 37(5), pages 101-128.
    8. Clifford Odimegwu & Oluwaseyi Dolapo Somefun & Joshua Akinyemi, 2017. "Gender Differences in the Effect of Family Structure on Educational Outcomes Among Nigerian Youth," SAGE Open, , vol. 7(4), pages 21582440177, November.
    9. Castro Ayebeng & Kwamena Sekyi Dickson & Abdul-Aziz Seidu & Joshua Amo-Adjei, 2022. "Single motherhood in Ghana: analysis of trends and predictors using demographic and health survey data," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-10, December.
    10. Wineman, Ayala, 2017. "Women′S Welfare And Livelihoods Outside Of Marriage: Evidence From Rural Tanzania," Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy Research Papers 261671, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics, Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security (FSP).

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