Households headed by women are a growing presence worldwide. This is the first book to focus on their diversity and dynamics in developing countries. Set within the context of global trends and debates on female household headship, and using case-study material based on interviews with low-income women in Mexico, Costa Rica and the Philippines, the analysis explores the reasons for the formation and increase in women-headed households in different parts of the world, and their capacity for survival in societies where male-headed households are both the norm and ideal.

Vital measures to counteract this tendency include increased awareness and acceptance of multiple contemporary forms of household and family life. To this end, Chant calls for greater collaboration in analysis, policy and action for gender equality across the North-South divide.

"In the aftermath of the Arab Spring, and in light of socio-economic and geopolitical challenges facing governments old and new, women's rights and empowerment have gained new urgency and relevance. Groups in power, or groups contesting for power, are more conservative than expected, and there are serious threats to roll back some of the gains women had achieved over the past 20-30 years on economic and social fronts. The global gender debate has neglected the economic dimension of women's empowerment and a great deal of debate and interest among researchers is needed to push the topics further. This timely book brings together leading regional researchers to offer original research linking gender equality with economic policy, reinforcing the agenda from a broad-based perspective."--Publisher summary.

This volume explores the causes and consequences of family inequality in the United States, Europe, and Latin America.

The authors highlight how structural circumstances in countries with various degrees of industrialization are associated with specific policies. The analyses of women’s experiences reveal the variety of ways in which private patriarchy in families combines with public patriarchy in economies and states to create a system of domination which subordinates women. The authors detail how gender is constructed under specific political, economic, and cultural circumstances, and seek to understand how state policies with differing sensitivities to women’s issues have produced mixed outcomes for women and their families in the process of economic development.

UNESCO pub. Research paper on female headed households in the Caribbean from the perspective of the women - presents a profile by country based on 1970 data showing the marital status and female-men comparisons of educational level, labour force participation and occupation; discusses the origin and high incidence of female-headed one parent families; examines strategies for coping with low income and child care problems, income generating activities, social assistance, alliance formation and serial marriages. Bibliography.