MOTHERS, FATHERS, AND CHILDREN: REGIONAL PATTERNS IN ...

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African Population Studies, ISSN: 0850-5780 Union for African Population Studies African Population Studies/Etude de la Population Africaine, Vol. 11, October/octobre 1996

MOTHERS, FATHERS, AND CHILDREN: REGIONAL PATTERNS IN CHILD-PARENT RESIDENCE IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA Antonio McDANIEL & Eliya ZULU* Code Number: ep96001 ABSTRACT The strongest ties in African families are consangineous rather than conjugal, and child fosterage is an important aspect of the distinctive extended African family system. Our study underscores the fact that the so-called African family is complex and that its structures and composition vary remarkably across various countries and societies. This paper focuses on the importance of child fosterage and nonmaternal residence as distinct, overlapping aspects of Africa's extended family system. The results highlight the role of the mother in child rearing: children who are not living with both parents are much more likely to live with the mother than with the father or with anybody else. The results further illustrate the importance of the extended family network in rearing children in the region: children not residing with either parent are more likely to be fostered by another relative than by non-relatives. RÉSUMÉ Les liens les plus solides dans les familles africaines sont des liens consanguins plutôt que conjugaux, et l'adoption des enfants est un aspect important du système de la famille élargie si caractéristique de l'Afrique. Notre étude souligne le fait que ladite famille élargie en Afrique est complexe et que ses structures et sa composition varient de manière remarquable selon les pays et les sociétés. Ce papier porte sur l'importance de l'adoption des enfants et de la résidence séparée avec la mère perçues comme des aspects distinctifs et communs du système de la famille élargie en Afrique. Les résultats mettent en exergue le rôle de la mère dans l'éducation des enfants : les enfants ne vivant pas avec les deux parents sont beaucoup plus susceptibles de vivre avec la mère qu'avec le père ou avec n'importe qui d'autre. Les résultats illustrent davantage l'importance du réseau de la famille élargie dans l'éducation http://www.bioline.org.br/request?ep96001 (1 of 22)9/8/2003 5:33:42 AM

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des enfants dans la région : les enfants ne résidant ni avec le père ni avec la mère sont susceptibles d'être adoptés par un autre membre de la famille élargie que par d'autres en dehors de celle-ci. INTRODUCTION When men and women work "outside the home" supporting structural arrangements must be developed to enable them to rear their children. Africans have been extensively involved in such activities (Sudarkasa 1981; Goody 1982:110; Aryee 1975). The practice of allowing children to be reared by people other than their biological parents is very old in sub-Saharan Africa. In part these practices stem from institutional arrangements and customs whose origins are deeply embedded in African cultural history (Goody 1982:37-42; 111-114). In addition to these traditional practices the modern influences of migration and urbanization have put new pressures on the African family system. The family, unlike the descent group, is the reproductive unit, and it is the basis of the study of fertility in demography. The point at which the family and descent group meet lies in the connection between successive generations and across families within generations. These connections are particularly important in our understanding of reproduction and the social processes surrounding the process of reproduction, namely socialization. Family structure results from a variety of social and cultural factors. Children’s living arrangements are critical in understanding cross-cultural variations in family structures, and marriage systems. Most demographic studies on child mortality often use the mother’s social, economic and demographic characteristics as predictor variables of child survival. However, if children do not live with their biological parents there is need for concern about the usefulness of relating the mother’s personal characteristics to the child’s chances of surviving. By reducing the economic burden of having many children (since parents do not necessarily meet all costs of childbearing), and providing an opportunity for couples to adjust the size of their families postnatally, child fosterage may actually facilitate high fertility (Bledsoe and Isiugo-Abanihe 1989; Isiugo-Abanihe 1985). This paper is one in a growing number of studies examining child-parent residence patterns in sub-Saharan Africa. Our study focuses on child-parent co-residence, especially nonmaternal and nonpaternal co-residence, as well as on child fosterage. We are defining children as persons aged 0 to 14 years. Nonmaternal residence refers to mother-child pairs who reside in different households, whereas nonpaternal residence refers to father-child pairs residing in different households. Child fosterage refers to the assumption by someone other than the biological parents of the rights and responsibilities associated with childbearing. A child is fostered when he/she migrates away from his/her biological parents to a home of other people, who accept to bear the child rearing responsibilities.1 Recent work on fosterage in modern Africa (Goody 1982; Isiugo-Abanihe 1985; Bledsoe and Isiugo-Abanihe 1989; Lloyd and Desai 1992) and among African populations in the diaspora (Sanford 1975; Stack 1975; Goody 1982:217-281; Morgan et al. 1993; McDaniel 1994) shows the practice to be very http://www.bioline.org.br/request?ep96001 (2 of 22)9/8/2003 5:33:42 AM

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prominent in African-derived populations. In the African context, there are many reasons for sending children to live elsewhere (Goody 1982; Isiugo-Abanihe 1985; Bledsoe and IsiugoAbanihe 1989). The fostering experience provides an important service to parents and their children. For the most part, fosterage is perceived as a custodial function that strengthens family bonds and enhances a child's opportunities. Using Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data we address a set of issues surrounding the incidence and patterns of child-parent residence in sub-Saharan Africa. Firstly, we describe the patterns of child-parent residence. Secondly, we examine the factors that account for the tendency of children to be fostered in households with their relatives and family friends. Thirdly, we examine the social and demographic factors that influence the likelihood that children will be found residing in various living arrangements. ANALYTIC STRATEGY Several studies on child fosterage in Africa have been based on small-scale and localized surveys (for example, Goody 1978; 1982; Schmutzhard et al. 1986; Bledsoe et al. 1988; Bledsoe and Isiugo-Abanihe 1989; Renne, 1993). These studies have exposed interesting information, especially with respect to the functions of child fosterage and reasons for its practice. The few studies that have utilized large-scale demographic surveys and censuses have shown the quantitative importance as well as the social and spatial patterns of this social phenomenon in sub-Saharan Africa (Isiugo-Abanihe 1985; Page 1989; Ainsworth 1991; Lloyd and Desai 1992) and other developing regions. The comparative studies on child fosterage in the region have focused on nonmaternal residence of children as a measure of child fosterage in their analysis (Page 1989; Lloyd and Desai 1992). The mother-based measure of fosterage, however, covers only part of the overall child-parental living structure and ignores the role of fathers, grandparents, and other relatives. Children could be living with their fathers or other relatives after a divorce or when the mother dies. DHS included a household questionnaire and an individual questionnaire administered to women of reproductive age. The household questionnaire, which was primarily used to identify women to be individually interviewed, recorded each household member's characteristics such as relationship to household head, gender, age, and, for children less than 15 years of age, whether their parents live in the household or not. A children's data file (all household members aged less than 15 years) was extracted from the household data, with each child having the characteristics mentioned above. This information allows us to analyze child fosterage based on the characteristics of the households that host foster children. Using the household data, children's living arrangements can be classified into the following six groups: living with both parents, living with the mother only, living with the father only, living with a grandparent, living with other relatives, and living with non-relatives.2 Another important dimension in child fosterage is the distinction between fosterage that results from necessity (crisis fostering) and that which is voluntary. Children may be fostered because the parents are divorced or because one or both of the parents is dead. It is important, http://www.bioline.org.br/request?ep96001 (3 of 22)9/8/2003 5:33:42 AM

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therefore, that a clear distinction be made between the children who are not living with their parents because the parents are dead and those whose parents are still alive. The household data will allow us to classify child-parent living arrangements by the survival status of the parents. For the children with both parents surviving, we use multinomial logit modeling to examine the factors that account for different living arrangements.3 In the individual questionnaire, women in the childbearing age range (14-49) were asked how many children they had ever borne and how many of them were still living. For each living child attributes such as age, sex, and whether he or she lives with the mother or father were recorded. For children not living with their mother, the mother was asked if the child was living with the father, another relative, or a non-relative. Just as with the household data, a children's data file (all living children aged less than 15 years as reported by the women) was extracted from the individual data. Each child was assigned his/her demographic characteristics and the mother's social and demographic characteristics. This information allows us to analyze child fosterage based on the characteristics of the women who foster their children out to other individuals. We classify child-parent living arrangements into two categories: (1) living with a parent (one or two parent(s)), and (2) being fostered (living with other relatives, or living with non-relatives). Using logistic regression, the individual questionnaire data allow us to examine the effect of a wide range of characteristics of the mother, child, and household on the odds of a child being fostered. RESULTS PATTERNS IN NONMATERNAL RESIDENCE AND FOSTERAGE As noted above, most of the analyses of child-parent residence in sub-Saharan Africa have focused on nonmaternal residence. Figure 1 presents a map showing the percentage of children not residing with their mothers in all the countries where DHS studies have been conducted in sub-Saharan Africa. This map shows that there are across-country variations in the level of nonmaternal residence within sub-Saharan Africa. Additionally, the map contradicts the assertion that the prevalence of nonmaternal residence is much higher in West African than in East African societies (Page 1989; Isiugo-Abanihe 1985). The percentage of children living away from their mothers ranges from a low of about 3% in Sudan to a high of about 27% in Namibia. The two countries in the southern tip of the continent (Botswana and Namibia) have exceptionally high incidence of nonmaternal residence. In the West African region, Liberia, with about 26% of the children not living with their mothers, appears to be an outlier case, because the other countries' nonmaternal residence levels range between 10% and 15%. For the East African region, Sudan and Kenya have exceptionally low levels of nonmaternal residence, and Uganda has the highest (19%) (see Figure 1). Table 1 compares the levels of nonmaternal residence at two points in time for the countries that have had both DHS and World Fertility Surveys (WFS). The results show a marked difference in the levels for most of the countries. In each African country for which data is available both the TFR and the percentage of children in nonmaternal residence declined. http://www.bioline.org.br/request?ep96001 (4 of 22)9/8/2003 5:33:42 AM

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However, this table should be interpreted with caution, because it is not clear whether the differences reflect change over time or the way in which the data were collected (see Table 1). Figure 2 presents a map of the percentage of the children who are fostered (not living with either parent), based on the household questionnaire data. Note that the patterns of fosterage levels are similar to those for nonmaternal residence (Figure 1). In Eastern Africa, 9, 14 and 18 percent of all children were living in households without their biological parents in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, respectively. In West Africa the levels of fosterage range from a low of about 11% in Nigeria to a high of about 14% in Cameroon and Ghana. In Southern Africa, about 14%, 15%, 25%, and 30% of all children in Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, and Namibia, respectively, were fostered. Just as with the nonmaternal residence patterns, these results do not support the widely held notion that fosterage is exceptionally higher in West Africa.4 The southern African Region has the highest levels of fosterage in sub-Saharan Africa. The relatively high rates of fosterage in the Southern Africa region is not surprising, taking into account the uniqueness of the socioeconomic and cultural setup in that region. Primarily due to the male out-migration to work in the more industrialized South Africa, the Southern African countries (Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland) have the highest percentage of female-headed households, relatively high age at first marriage for women, and high proportion of never married women in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Botswana the tradition of linking siblings together (Schapera, 1951)5 makes the practice of having children reared in relatives’ homes a norm of the society. Liberia’s uniquely high level of fosterage in the West African Region is quite surprising considering that marriage is early and almost universal, the proportion of female headed households is not out of the ordinary, and there is not as much out-migration of male workers as is the case in Southern Africa. Our understanding right now is that the high level of fosterage in Liberia may be a result of the social and economic disruption caused by the ongoing civil way and other unrests (see Figure 2). FACTORS AFFECTING CHILD FOSTERAGE The type of living arrangement in which a particular child is found is determined by a series of factors, including the social, economic, and demographic characteristics of the parents and potential foster parents, characteristics of the households and location in which his or her parents and the potential foster parents live, as well as the demographic characteristics of the children themselves. In this section we have used the women's individual data to examine the effect of the mother's social and demographic characteristics, the household structural characteristics, and the child's characteristics on the odds of a child being fostered.6 Table 2 shows that boys are less likely to be fostered than are girls in all the countries except in Cameroon, where the effect of sex is not significant. The odds of being fostered consistently increases with the child's age in all the countries.7 This is not surprising because child-care during most of the early years of childhood remains primarily in the hands of the mother; the necessity of the mother's care to young children is the main factor that limits the

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extent of child fosterage at very young ages. Children under 5 years of age would normally live with their mothers unless there was a family crisis. In some societies fosterage may be employed to facilitate early termination of lactation and postpartum sexual abstinence, and fosterage of young children may be common (Bledsoe 1987; Bledsoe and Isiugo-Abanihe 1989; van de Walle and van de Walle 1991). As children grow older the reasons for fostering broaden. For those who want to foster children for the sake of utilizing the children's labor resources, for example, it makes sense that they should get relatively older children. Additionally, the concern to ensure that a child should get good education and proper training for occupational skills and various adult roles increases with the child's age. Often children are fostered out to learn a trade or attend school (Goody, 1982). A child may, therefore, be fostered if the parents are not best suited to prepare the child for adult roles, or if the parents are not located in an area with the best facilities for such training. The likelihood of being fostered is positively associated with the mother's age in all the countries; children whose mothers are aged over 35 years are less likely to be fostered than those whose mothers are younger. Just as with children's characteristics, the extent to which the mothers' age is associated with fosterage depends on the reasons why children are being fostered in a particular society. For instance, in situations where fosterage is mainly practised to provide relief and an opportunity for working women to continue with their careers, children whose mothers are younger (who are more likely to participate in the labor force) would be more likely to be fostered than would be children whose mothers are older. The effect of the number of siblings on the likelihood of being fostered is variable across the countries. In Cameroon, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia, children with 1 or 2 siblings are more likely than children with 5 or more siblings to be fostered. In Namibia, however, children with 1 to 2 and 3 to 4 siblings are less likely to be fostered than children with 5 or more siblings. There is no difference between the odds of fosterage for children with 3 or 4 siblings and those with 5 or more siblings in Cameroon, Malawi, Nigeria, and Zambia. For Tanzania, it seems somewhat surprising that although children with 1 or 2 siblings are more likely to be fostered than children with 5 or more siblings, children with 3 or 4 siblings are less likely to be fostered than the later. Child fosterage has been viewed as a way of adjusting family size and composition postnatally (Bledsoe and Isiugo-Abanihe 1989; Isiugo-Abanihe 1985). This view implies that, on the average, there should be more fosterage in higher-fertility populations. However, the low-fertility countries do not necessarily have less fosterage or nonmaternal residence (see Figures 1 and 2). For example, despite having some of the lowest fertility levels in subSaharan Africa, Namibia and Botswana have the highest percentages of foster children in the region. Furthermore, if families are employing fosterage as a tool for adjusting family size and composition postnatally there should be a positive association between the risk of a child being fostered and the number of siblings that the child has. Although the relationship between the number of siblings and the odds of being fostered is positive in Namibia, the http://www.bioline.org.br/request?ep96001 (6 of 22)9/8/2003 5:33:42 AM

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results of this study show that one should be cautious about generalizing about this relationship because an inverse relationship is found in Cameroon, Malawi, and Zambia. The likelihood that a child is fostered is positively related to the mother's level of education in all the countries, except in Namibia (where the association is negative), and in Malawi (where the relationship is not significant). Children whose mothers have primary or secondary education are more likely to be fostered than children whose mothers are not educated in Cameroon, Tanzania, and Zambia. The mother's level of education may affect fosterage positively or negatively, depending on the circumstances. Firstly, education may positively affect fosterage through its impact on women's participation in the labor force. Women in the labor force are more likely to foster out children (especially young ones) in order to return to work early after giving birth. Nevertheless, the extent to which women's participation in the labor force affects fosterage may also depend on the nature of child care facilities and arrangements that women can make in the place where they work or live. Secondly, education may affect fosterage through its impact on the parents' desire to educate their children. More educated parents may be more inclined to invest in their children's education if they have the resources, or with the help from other relatives if they do not have the resources. Thirdly, the mother's level of education may have a negative impact on the level of fosterage by changing the parents' attitudes regarding their parental roles and responsibilities to their own children. Education may influence the parents' readiness to challenge some traditional customs and values that facilitate the widespread acceptance of child fosterage as a lineage-binding scheme. Educated women may also be more sensitive to some of the problems (nutritional, general child care, and health care) that their children, especially young ones, may encounter while living with other people (see, Bledsoe and Isiugo-Abanihe, 1989, and Bledsoe, et al., 1988 for a discussion of some of the detrimental effects of child fosterage). Another issue that has received substantial attention in the discussion of fosterage in SubSaharan Africa is the extent to which resource deprivation forces parents or mothers to send their children to live with other people. Some of the factors that affect the amount and quality of child rearing resources that women have are their marital status, the type of marriage (whether polygamous or monogamous), and whether the mother is living together with the spouse or not. Children whose mothers are in polygamous marital unions are more likely to be fostered than children whose mothers are in monogamous unions in all the countries except Namibia and Tanzania, where the difference is not significant. Children whose mothers are divorced or widowed or have never married are more likely to be fostered than children whose mothers are in monogamous unions. The difference in the likelihood of fosterage between children whose mothers are currently married and those who are not are substantial and in the expected direction because we should expect mothers who are not married to be more stressed and, therefore, more likely to seek outside resources and aid to support their children.8 We also looked at the effect of the mother's working status (whether working outside the home or not) on the likelihood of a child being fostered. The relationship is not significant in all the countries except in Malawi where children whose mothers are http://www.bioline.org.br/request?ep96001 (7 of 22)9/8/2003 5:33:42 AM

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working are more likely to be fostered than those whose mothers are not working. Children whose mothers live in rural areas are more likely to be fostered than children whose mothers live in urban areas in Namibia and Tanzania; the rural-urban differences are not significant in the other countries. Because of data limitations, we can not determine the extent to which children get fostered between rural and urban areas. However, this pattern suggests that more children may be moving from urban to rural areas, than from the country side to urban areas. Particular characteristics of the African family may affect the level of fostering and nonmaternal residence in a given society. For instance, extended kinship links, as opposed to nuclear family links, are important in determining child-parent residence in a society (Goody 1982). Furthermore, because households headed by women are usually associated with higher levels of resource deprivation than are male-headed households, children whose mothers are household heads stand a greater risk of being fostered than those whose mothers live in households headed by men. However, some female-headed households may be absorbed into male headed households where the head may not be the mother's husband, in which case, the children's socioeconomic status may be better than when the mother runs her own household. The risk of being fostered is not affected by the type of household (nuclear versus extended) and gender of the household head in any of the countries except in Tanzania, where children whose mothers live in nuclear and male headed households are less likely to be fostered than are children living in extended and female-headed households. CHILD-PARENT RESIDENCE In order to understand the practice of child fosterage and its role in the African family structure, it is important to look at the relationship between fostered children and their foster parents. The social and economic implications for children not living with both parents may vary depending on whether the child is living with the mother, father, a grandparent, other relatives, or a non-relative. In some cases, children who are living with their fathers may be economically better off if the mothers are not capable of supporting them. In some instances, children living with their stepmothers may be more disadvantaged than those living with their mothers even when their fathers are in a better position to provide financial support, because of the influence of the new wife on his resources. Figure 3 shows the distribution of all children by the living arrangement in which they are. This figure is important not only because it shows the relationship of the foster children to their foster parents but also because it depicts the extent of various patterns of child-parent and child-nonparent co-residence. Note that the measure of fosterage consists of children living with either their grandparents, other relatives, or non-relatives. These results highlight the role of the mother in child-rearing because, in all the countries, children who are not in a position to live with both parents are much more likely to live with the mother than with any other people.

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Namibia has the highest percentage of children in nonmaternal residence and, the highest percentage of children living with their mothers only (Figures 3). These results also underscore the importance of the extended family network in raising children in Sub-Saharan Africa. In all the countries, children who are not living with either or both parents are much more likely to be living with a relative (grandparent or other relative) than with a nonrelative. Only about 4% to 6% of all children live with the father only and even fewer live with non-relatives. The percentage of children fostered to non-relatives ranges from a low of 0.6% in Tanzania and Zambia, to a high of about 4% Namibia. Although the role of fathers in child rearing is more limited than that of mothers, fathers should not be disregarded when analyzing child living arrangements in Sub-Saharan Africa. Fathers' homes are the third most likely place for children to reside. Additionally, the fact that there are marked across-country variations in the percentage of children not living with their fathers suggests that more attention should be accorded to studying the social and cultural factors that determine fatherchild co-residence in the region. It is important to analyze the African family structure and the nature of child-parent living arrangements in relation to parental mortality. Table 3 presents the percentage of childhood years (0-14) that children spend in various living arrangements, controlling for the survival status of their parents in the six countries for which such classification is possible. Children spend at least 60% of their childhood with both parents in all the countries except Namibia9. Namibia has a quite unique social structure as evidenced in the relatively high age at first marriage for women, the relatively high proportions of female-headed households, and the high level of male labor migration to neighboring South Africa (see Table 3).10 These results show that most African children have surviving parents; more than 90% of the children have both parents alive, whereas less than 1% have no living parent. Furthermore, the majority of African children reside in households with both parents. The relationship between fosterage and parental mortality is important for understanding the context of socially prescribed fosterage and that which results from the demographic impact of mortality on the population. In times of crisis, fosterage may provide proxy parents in cases in which the biological parents are dead (Goody 1978; Goody 1982).11 Some children are fostered because of the death of one of their parents. Another interesting aspect of the child-parent living arrangements is the gender differences in the extent of parental involvement in child rearing between widowed mothers and fathers. With the exception of Cameroon and Niger, children whose mothers are dead are much more likely to be fostered (that is, not live with the father) than children who lose their fathers (see Figure 4). Of the children fostered, the vast majority in the Cameroon (76%), Tanzania (68%), Namibia (79%), and Zambia (72%) have surviving parents. About 14% of the fostered children in both the Cameroon and Tanzania, and about 12% and 20% in Namibia and Zambia, respectively, have a surviving parent, either a mother or father, with whom they do not live. A very small proportion of the fostered children in sub-Saharan Africa do not have a surviving parent, with http://www.bioline.org.br/request?ep96001 (9 of 22)9/8/2003 5:33:42 AM

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a low of 1.3% in Namibia and a high of 3.9% in Zambia. Thus, although crisis fosterage may be an important type of child fosterage in Africa, very few of the children are fostered as a result of the crisis of mortality. Thus, if crisis fosterage is a major contributor to fosterage in Africa, it must result from marital disruption and economic as well social hardship of the surviving parents. It will be interesting to see how parental mortality resulting from the AIDS epidemic will affect child-parent living arrangements in the future. FACTORS AFFECTING CHILDREN'S LIVING ARRANGEMENTS In order to place fostering into its appropriate social context, it is important that we understand not only the factors that affect whether the child lives with parents or not but also the factors that affect the type of living arrangement that a child is ultimately found in, given that he or she can not live with both parents. As noted before, the living arrangements in which children are found depend not only on the characteristics of the alternative living arrangements or guardians, but also on the demographic characteristics of the children. Using information from the household schedules, we examined the effect of the child's characteristics (age, sex, schooling status, and place of residence) on the relative likelihood of living with the mother, as opposed to each of the other five living arrangements.12 Table 4 presents relative risk ratios of being in various living arrangements as opposed to living with the mother in the six countries for which such classification was possible. As noted earlier on, this analysis has been limited to children with both parents alive. Because children not living with both parents are more likely to be living with the mother (only) than with any other people in all the countries, "living with the mother" has been used as the comparison group in the analysis. The idea here is to examine characteristics of children that affect whether the child lives with the mother or in some other guardian arrangement. The results show that the effect of the child's sex varies across the different living arrangements and the six countries. The likelihood of living with both parents, as opposed to living with the mother, does not vary with the child's sex in Cameroon, Malawi, and Zambia, but girls are more likely than boys to live with both parents than live with the mother in Namibia, Niger, and Tanzania. Boys are more likely than girls to live with the father than with the mother in Malawi, Namibia, Niger, and Tanzania, but the relationship is not significant in Cameroon and Zambia. In Niger, boys are less likely than girls to live with the grandparent, whereas in all the other countries, the sex of the child does not affect the relative likelihood that a child lives with the grandparent as opposed to with the mother. Boys are less likely than girls to live with other relatives as opposed to living with their mothers, in Niger, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia; the effect of sex is not significant in Cameroon and Namibia. Boys are less likely than girls to live with non-relatives, as opposed to living with the mother, in all countries, but the association is not significant in Niger and Zambia. These patterns are not surprising because boys and girls are usually fostered for quite different reasons (Page 1989). In most African settings, girls participate in household chores (like drawing water and cooking) more than boys, and they start doing so from younger ages http://www.bioline.org.br/request?ep96001 (10 of 22)9/8/2003 5:33:42 AM

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than when boys start participating in the often physically oriented male jobs. Besides, the use of fostered children as live-in-child-maids by most urban women only applies to girls. The effect of the child's age on whether the child lives with the mother, as opposed to each of the other arrangements, is in the expected direction; younger children are more likely than older children to live with the mother than to be in any other living arrangement in all the countries. Almost all studies done on child fosterage in sub-Saharan Africa have shown that the level of fosterage increases with the child's age. The effect of place of residence on the type of living arrangement is variable across the different living arrangements and the countries. Children living in rural areas are more likely than are children in urban areas to live with both parents than live with the mother only in Cameroon, Niger, and Tanzania; this fact suggests a higher prevalence of marital instability in urban areas. However, the likelihood of living with both parents, as opposed to with the mother, is greater for urban based children in Malawi, Namibia, and Zambia. Rural children are more likely than their urban counterparts to live with their fathers than to live with their mothers in Cameroon and Niger. In Malawi and Zambia, however, rural children are more likely than are urban children to live with their mothers than live with their fathers. Rural children are more likely than are urban children to live with their grandparents than with their mothers in all countries except Malawi, where the relationship is not significant. Children living in urban areas are more likely than are children living in rural areas to live with other relatives than with the mother only in Cameroon, Niger, and Namibia but less likely to do so in Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia. Rural children are less likely than are urban children to live with non-relatives, as opposed to living with their mothers, in Malawi, Niger, and Tanzania but more likely to do so in Namibia and Zambia. CONCLUSION Although the focus on the mother provides an important proxy for child rearing strategies, because most child care is provided by the mother, we can not understand the complete African family structure without incorporating the parental role of the father and other people. The social and economic implications of children not living with their mothers may vary depending on whether the child is living with the father, a grandparent, other relatives, or a non-relative. We suggest that fosterage and other forms of child residence should be viewed as distinct overlapping aspects of Africa's extended family system. In sub-Saharan Africa the burden and financial costs of raising children are not borne exclusively by biological parents; rather they are shared by the extended family members, between generations, and across families within generations. Our descriptive work is intended to remind researchers that the African extended family system is complex and varies across societies. These results show that there are quite big across-country variations in the levels of child fosterage, nonmaternal residence, as well as in nonpaternal residence within sub-Saharan Africa. In general, the southern African regions (Namibia and Botswana) and Liberia (in http://www.bioline.org.br/request?ep96001 (11 of 22)9/8/2003 5:33:42 AM

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West Africa) have the highest levels of fosterage in the region. The results also highlight the role of the mother in child rearing; children who are not in a position to live with both parents are much more likely to live with the mother only. The extended family network plays an important role in raising children since children who are not living with both parents are much more likely to be living with a relative than with a non-relative. Children who are not living with both parents are more likely to live with a relative than their father, or even their mother in some countries. In order to place fostering into its appropriate social context, it is important that we understand not only the factors that affect whether the child lives with parents, but also, the factors that affect the type of living arrangement that a child is ultimately found in, given that he or she can not live with both parents. Indeed, the living arrangement in which children are found depends on the characteristics of the alternative living arrangements or guardians as well as the demographic characteristics of the children. Our results show that the effect of children's characteristics (particularly sex and place of residence) on where a child lives varies across the countries in sub-Saharan Africa. This finding underscores the importance of going beyond the conventional dualistic classification of children into fostered and non fostered, or maternal and nonmaternal residence to the specific living arrangements into which the children who are not living with both parents are actually found. A detailed analysis of these arrangements will require better and more complicated data, but the answers are sure to be worth the effort and cost. Figure 1: Percentage of children living away from their mothers Figure 2: Percentage of children not living with their parents Figure 3: Children's living arrangements by country Figure 4: Children with one surviving parent co-residing with the parent Table 1 Percentage of children not living with their mothers and total fertility rates based on DHS and WFS data

Country

Cameroon

Demographic and Health Survey

World Fertility Survey

NonMaternal Residence

TFR

Survey Year

NonMaternal Residence

TFR

Survey Year

14.0%

5.9

1991

18.1%

6.4

1978

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Ghana

15.2%

6.1

1988

22.0%

6.5

1980

-

-

-

21.3%

7.4

1980

6.9%

6.5

1989

12.0%

8.3

1978

Lesotho

-

-

-

20.7%

5.8

1977

Nigeria

12.0%

5.7

1990

11.4%

6.3

1982

Sudan

2.5%

6.5

1989

6.1%

7.2

1979

Ivory Coast Kenya

Note:The percentages have been computed from WFS (World Fertility Survey) data obtained from Page (1989: Tables 9.1, 9.2, and 9.3). The TFRs have been obtained from DHS and WFS reports for the corresponding countries. Table 2: The log odds of living in a household without biological parents by child and household characteristics Characteristics

Cameroon

Malawi

Namibia

Nigeria

Tanzania

Zambia

Sex of child Female

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

Male

0.99 -

0.85 ***

0.80 **** 0.72 ****

0.88 ***

0.89 **

0-4

0.14 ****

0.08 ****

5-9

0.53 ****

10-14

1.00

0.15 **** 0.09 **** 0.25 **** 0.13 **** 0.56 **** 0.46 **** 0.63 **** 0.47 **** 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00

Age of child

0.50 **** 1.00

Sex of household head Female

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

Male

0.84 -

0.99 -

0.97 -

1.03 -

0.81 ***

0.83 -

Household structure

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Extended

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

Nuclear

1.10 -

1.13 -

1.12 -

0.94 -

0.88 ***

1.01 -

Mother's working status Not working

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

Working

1.04 -

1.21 ***

0.98 -

1.12 **

0.99 -

0.99 -

Urban

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

Rural

1.14 -

0.90 -

0.68 **** 0.90 **

0.86 ***

1.07 -

15-24

2.19 ****

2.54 ****

25-29

1.26 ***

35 +

1.00

1.90 **** 1.45 **** 1.88 2.77 **** **** 1.55 **** 1.75 **** 1.74 **** 1.23 **** 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00

Place of residence

Mother's age

1.24 *** 1.00

Surviving children 1-3

1.63 ****

1.82 **** 0.73 **** 1.01 -

1.26 ****

1.85 ****

4-5

1.03 -

1.02 -

0.72 **** 0.94 -

0.77 ****

1.17 **

6+

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

Mother's education No education

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

Primary

1.29 ****

1.03 -

0.87 **

1.12 **

1.31 ****

1.41 ****

Secondary +

1.68 ****

1.08 -

0.86 **

1.13 -

2.13 ****

1.38 ****

Monogamous

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

Polygamous

1.19 ***

1.32 **** 1.00 -

1.34 **** 1.11 -

1.39 ****

Married before

1.75 ****

1.21 -

1.10 -

1.84 **** 1.06 -

1.44 ****

Never married

2.88 ****

1.18 -

2.01 **** 1.63 -

Marital union

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0.94 -

1.26 -

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Log-likelihood

-2429

Number of cases 7453

-2449

-3901

-5026

-4569

-3444

9460

8125

17483

17432

13297

The asterisk indicates the significance of the parameter estimate where: **** = significant at 0.01 level; *** = significant at 0.05 level; ** = significant at 0.10 level; - = not significant The category "Married before" comprises divorced, separated, and widowed mothers Table 3: Percentage of childhood years spent in various living arrangements by parental survival status Parental survival status

Percentage of children in living arrangement Both parents

Cameroon (all children)

Mother only

Father Grandonly parent

Other relative

Nonrelative

Number of children

64.9

15.7

5.4

4.5

6.6

3.0

9360

64.9

12.5

4.3

4.0

5.3

2.4

8738

-

3.2

-

0.3

0.8

0.3

430

-

-

1.1

0.2

0.2

0.1

155

-

-

-

0.1

0.3

0.1

37

61.8

21.7

2.7

8.2

4.2

1.5

11127

61.8

18.1

1.3

6.3

2.9

1.0

10157

-

3.56

-

0.6

0.4

0.1

515

-

-

1.4

0.8

0.6

0.2

338

-

-

-

0.6

0.2

0.2

106

36.7

30.0

4.1

14.7

10.9

3.6

10372

36.7

27.2

3.9

12.9

9.2

3.0

9628

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-

2.8

-

1.1

0.9

0.3

537

-

-

0.3

0.6

0.6

0.2

164

-

-

-

0.1

0.3

0.0

42

74.8

8.3

4.2

5.7

6.3

0.8

16053

74.8

6.2

2.6

4.9

4.2

0.6

14967

-

2.1

-

0.5

1.1

0.1

596

-

-

1.6

0.3

0.7

0.0

431

-

-

-

0.1

0.3

0.0

59

69.1

15.7

5.9

8.0

0.8

0.6

18457

Tanzania (all children)

69.1

12.5

4.8

6.7

0.5

0.4

17336

Both parents alive

-

3.3

-

0.6

0.1

0.1

752

Mother only

-

-

1.1

0.4

0.1

0.1

315

Father only

-

-

-

0.2

0.1

0.0

55

Both dead

71.3

15.2

4.8

6.8

1.3

0.7

14791

Zambia (all children)

71.3

11.9

3.8

5.5

0.8

0.5

13872

Both parents alive

-

3.33

-

0.6

0.3

0.1

642

Mother only

-

-

0.9

0.5

0.1

0.1

230

Father only

-

-

-

0.2

0.1

0.0

48

Mother only Father only Both dead Niger (all children) Both parents alive Mother only Father only Both dead

Both dead Table 4: Relative risk ratios of living in various arrangements rather than with the mother

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Living Cameroon arrangement

Malawi

Namibia

Niger

Tanzania

Zambia

BOTH PARENTS 1.05 -

1.13 ****

1.15 ***

1.16 ****

0.93 -

Female child 1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

Age (0-4)

0.6O ****

1.09 -

0.58 ****

0.74 ****

0.72 ****

0.81 ****

Age (5-9)

0.93 -

1.11 -

0.93 -

0.89 -

0.93 -

0.96 -

Age (10-14)

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

Rural residence

1.61 ****

0.55 ****

0.88 ***

1.61 ****

1.54 ****

0.76 ****

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.13 -

1.37 ***

1.29 ****

1.69 ****

1.32 ****

1.03 -

Female child 1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

Age (0-4)

0.10 ****

0.06 ****

0.16 ****

0.13 ****

0.12 ****

0.11 ****

Age (5-9)

0.68 ****

0.63 ****

0.62 ****

0.60 ****

0.55 ****

0.65 ****

Age (10-14)

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

Rural residence

1.73 ****

0.25 ****

0.89 -

1.30 ***

1.09 -

0.64 ****

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

Male child

1.04 -

Urban residence FATHER Male child

Urban residence GRANDPARENT

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0.89 -

1.06 -

0.82 ***

1.03 -

0.94 -

Female child 1.00

1.00 -

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

Age (0-4)

0.27 ****

0.30 ****

0.45 ****

0.56 ****

0.32 ****

0.35 ****

Age (5-9)

0.94 -

0.98 -

1.05 -

1.33 ***

0.95 -

0.87 -

Age (10-14)

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

Rural residence

2.59 ****

0.92 *

4.20 ****

1.70 ****

1.66 ****

1.76 ****

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

0.62 ****

0.90 -

0.51 ****

1.21 -

0.72 -

Female child 1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

Age (0-4)

0.10 ****

0.09 ****

0.30 ****

0.13 ****

0.02 ****

0.04 ****

Age (5-9)

0.49 ****

0.41 ****

0.72 ****

0.55 ****

Male child

1.02 -

Urban residence OTHER RELATIVE Male child

0.83 **

0.21 ****

Age (10-14)

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

0.31 ****

Rural residence

1.61 ****

1.36 ****

0.24 ****

1.40 ****

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

0.66 ** 1.00

Urban residence NON-RELATIVE

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1.00

1.00 0.32 ****

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Male child

0.71 ***

Female child 1.00

0.56 ****

0.63 ****

0.73 **

1.00

1.00

1.00

0.48 ****

0.83 1.00

1.00 Age (0-4)

0.09 ****

0.01 ****

0.21 ****

0.02 ****

0.06 ****

Age (5-9)

0.72 ***

0.14 ****

0.57 ****

0.22 ****

Age (10-14)

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

Rural residence

0.90 *

0.17 ****

1.47 ****

0.55 ****

0.12 **** 0.46 ****

0.25 **** 1.00 1.70 ***

1.00 1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00 0.57 ***

Urban residence

1.00 Loglikelihood

-8881

-9934

-14569

-11887

-15387

-11018

8739

10497

10164

15104

17726

13482

Number of cases The asterisk indicates the significance of the parameter estimate where: **** = significant at 0.01 level *** = significant at 0.05 level ** = significant at 0.10 level - = not significant NOTES 1. Note, however, that schooling and other general child-care costs are not always borne by the foster parents. In some cases child care costs are met by the foster parents, whereas in other cases the costs may be met by the biological parents or even shared between the two parties. Other relatives who may not necessarily be staying with the child may also contribute to specific child rearing costs, irrespective of who the child is staying with. As such, measuring fosterage by whether children live together with their biological parents or not, does not give a full picture of how much, and what aspects of parental roles are actually transferred to foster parents. 2. DHS studies have been conducted in two phases. In DHS II surveys the survival status and presence of each child's mother and father in the household were separately recorded. In DHS I, however, there was no question on the survival status of the http://www.bioline.org.br/request?ep96001 (19 of 22)9/8/2003 5:33:42 AM

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3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

parent, and the question on the presence of parents referred to the presence of "either" parent; hence, we do not know, for the children with a parent, whether both parents were in the household or not. This means that for DHS I data, we can only categorize the children into two groups: children living with either parents and children living with neither parent. Out of the 16 countries included in this study, Cameroon, Malawi, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Zambia are Phase II surveys. When looking at the relative odds of living in different living arrangements we restrict our analysis to children who are only applicable in each case. For example, the children whose fathers or mothers are dead are not at a risk of living with both parents. In the multinomial logistic analysis we run different models for each population-atrisk (defined by parental survival status and co-residence). We focus on children with both parents surviving, in order to determine the relative risk of living with the mother as opposed to being found in each of the other five residential categories (see Hoffman and Duncan 1988 for a description of multinomial models). Although Page (1989) and Isiugo-Abanihe (1985)'s studies deal with nonmaternal residence, their general discussion revolves around the issues of fosterage, and the child rearing roles of non-parental families and friends. According to the Tswana custom called ‘go rulaganya ga bana’ the father "assigns a brother to a brother, sister to sister, and sister to brother so that every child has a linked sibling of each sex. A man’s linked sister in due course becomes the ‘special’ paternal aunt of his children and he becomes the special maternal uncle of hers" (Schapera, 1951, pp. 39). Note that child fosterage as defined using these data leaves out children whose mothers are dead (since the questions were asked to women). However, less than 3% of all children would be left out because of maternal mortality in all the countries (see Table 3). This measure of fosterage also leaves out children whose mothers are outside the conventional child-bearing age range (15-49) as used in DHS studies. To see if the differences in the likelihood of fosterage between boys and girls change or varie across the three age groups, we included the interaction term of age and sex in the model. The interaction term was not significant in any of the six countries. In general, children whose mothers are widowed are more likely to be fostered than children whose mothers are divorced, suggesting that widowed mothers may be more strained (resource-wise) than divorced mothers. Because married couples do not necessarily live together in some parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, it is important to examine the effect of co-residence of the husband and spouse on child fosterage. Children whose mothers live together with their current husbands are less likely to be fostered than are those whose mothers do not live together in Cameroon, although the differences are not significant in the other four countries (results not shown). When both parents are alive about 70% of their children live with them in all the countries except in Namibia, where only about 40% of the children with both parents alive live with them. Out of the six countries being looked at here, Namibia has the highest percentage of female-headed households (31%), compared to 14% (Nigeria), 16% (Zambia), 19% (Tanzania), and 25% (Malawi). Furthermore, Namibia has the highest average age at

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first marriage for women (25 years), compared to averages ranging between 17 and 19 years for the other four countries. 11. On the other hand, the consequences of child fostering on child survival in Africa depend on the cultural norms for treatment of fostered children (Isiugo-Abanihe 1985). Research done in some African settings has shown that fostered children may have higher risks of morbidity and mortality than non-fostered children (Bledsoe et al. 1988; Schmutzhard et al. 1986). 12. This analysis has been done using multinomial logistic regression with "living with the mother" as the comparison group. This type of problem can be best analyzed using a combination of the multinomial and conditional logit discrete-choice models, as suggested by Hoffman and Duncan (1988). However, we could not use a conditional logit model because we did not have information for all the social and demographic characteristics of the alternative living arrangements in order to determine the effect of the characteristics of the alternatives themselves. REFERENCES ●





















Ainsworth M., (1991). "Economic Aspects of Child Fostering in Cote D'ivoire", The World Bank: Africa Technical Department (June). Aryee, A. F. (1975), "A Study of Parent-Child Separation in Accra", Legon Family Research Papers, No. 4, Chapter 9. Bledsoe, C. (1987). "Side-Stepping the Postpartum Sex Taboo: Mende Cultural Perceptions of Tinned Milk in Sierra Leone", in Population Studies Center, The Cultural Routes of African Fertility Regimes: Proceedings of the Ife Conference, February 25 - March 1, 1987, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania. Bledsoe, C.; H. Douglas C. Ewbank and Uche C. Isiugo-Abanihe (1988). "The Effect of Child Fostering on Feeding Practices and Access to health Services in Rural Sierra Leone", Social Science and Medicine, 27, 6: 627-636. Bledsoe, C. and Isiugo-Abanihe, U. (1989). "Strategies of Child-Fosterage among Mende Grannies in Sierra Leone," in Ron J. Lesthaeghe (ed) Reproduction and Social Organization in sub-Saharan Africa, Berkeley: University of California Press, Chapter 10. Goody, E. (1978). "Some Theoretical and Empirical Aspects of Parenthood in West Africa", in C. Oppong, G. Adaba, M. Bekombo-Prisco and J. Mogey (eds.), Marriage, Fertility and Parenthood in West Africa, pp. 227-272. Goody, E.N. (1982). Parenthood and Social Reproduction: Fostering and Occupational Roles in West Africa, New York: Cambridge University Press. Hoffman, S.D. and Greg J. Duncan (1988). "Multinomial and Conditional Logit Discrete-Choice Models in Demography", Demography, 25, No. 3, pp. 415-427. Isiugo-Abanihe, U.C. (1985). "Child Fosterage in West Africa", Population and Development Review, 11, 1: 53-73. Lloyd, C.B. and Desai, S. (1992). "Children's Living Arrangements in Developing Countries," Population Research and Policy Review, 11, 193-216. ,McDaniel, A. (1994). "Historical Racial Differences in Living Arrangements of

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Children", Journal of Family History, 19(1):57-77. Morgan, S.P.; McDaniel, A.; Miller, A.; Preston, S. (1993). "Racial Differences in Household and Family Structure in the Turn of the Century." American Journal of Sociology, 98: 4: 799-828. Page, H.J. (1989). "Childbearing versus Childbearing: Coresidence of Mother and Child in sub-Saharan Africa," in Ron J. Lesthaeghe (ed) Reproduction and Social Organization in sub-Saharan Africa, Berkeley: University of California Press, Chapter 9. Renne, E.P. (1993). "History in the Making: An Anthropological Approach to the Demographic Analysis of Child Fostering in Southwestern Nigeria" in International Population Conference, IUSSP, Montreal, 1993, vol. 4, pp. 327-342. Sanford, M. (1975). "To be treated as a Child of the Home: Black Caribbean Child Lending in a British West Indian Society", in Socialization and Communication in Primary Groups. Hague: Mouton Publishers. pp. 159-181. Schapera, I. (1951; revised 1991). The Tswana - Revised Edition, London. Kegan Paul International Publications, pp. 22-42. Schmutzhard E. et al (1986). "Separation from Mother at the time of Weaning", Tropical Doctor, 16, 176-177. Stack, C. (1975). "Who Raises Black Children: Transactions of givers and child receivers", in Thomas R. Williams (ed), Socialization and Communication in Primary Groups, Hague: Manton Publishers. Sudarkasa, N. (1981). "Female Employment and Family Organization in West Africa", in F. C. Steady (ed), The Black Woman Cross-Culturally, Rochester: Schenkman Books Inc. Van de Walle, E., and Van de Walle, F. (1991). "Breastfeeding in and Popular Aetiology in the Sahel." Health Transition Review 1, 1: 69-81.

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