Who Helps Single Mothers in Nairobi? The Role of Kin Support

Journal of Marriage and the Family
Shelley ClarkCaroline Kabiru

Abstract

Single mothers often turn to their extended kin for financial assistance and to help with child care. Such support may be especially important in areas of high poverty and poor environmental conditions. Using novel kinship data, this paper assesses the extent of support given by over 3,000 relatives to 462 single mothers living in a slum area of Nairobi, Kenya. Contrary to stereotypes about families in sub-Saharan Africa, the active kin network of single mothers is relatively small and nearly a fifth of mothers do not receive any financial or child care assistance. Different types of kin offer different kinds of support according to culturally proscribed roles. However, support also depends heavily on kin's employment status, geographic proximity, and age. These findings offer a nuanced picture of how single women living in slum areas draw upon their kin network to cope with their daily demands as mothers.

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Citations

Jul 10, 2019·Demography·Shelley ClarkStella Muthuri
Jul 29, 2020·Studies in Family Planning·Shelley ClarkHans-Peter Kohler
Nov 26, 2019·Journal of Marriage and the Family·David P LindstromChalli Jira
Jul 23, 2019·Gender & Society : Official Publication of Sociologists for Women in Society·Sangeetha MadhavanYuko Hara
Feb 20, 2021·PloS One·Samuel H Nyarko, Lloyd Potter
May 24, 2021·BMC Health Services Research·Khuthala MabethaClifford O Odimegwu

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