Background on female-headed households
National studies and empirical research by NGO’s estimate that between 20-40% of all households in Egypt are headed by women. ADEW defines a female-headed household (FHH) as one in which a woman is the primary economic contributor to the family, or one in which a woman represents her family legally and socially within the community FHH’s exist under a variety of circumstances and include widows, divorcees, unmarried women, and deserted wives. It also covers the wives of unemployed men, wives of alcohol or drug addicts, wives of men who toil for daily wages (urzuqi), wives married to sick or disabled husbands, co-wives, and women who contribute more to the family income than their husbands do. Conventional wisdom dictates that FHH’s are a vulnerable segment of the population, but in poor communities of Cairo the situation is particularly acute. Women from FHH’s struggle with long hours of work and the responsibilities of their homes only to find that they barely make enough money to survive. Legal, social, political, and economic exclusion from society only compound the difficulties of raising a family under crushing poverty. The problem begins from childhood as girls
from low-income families are often pressured to leave school to help
in the house, raise their siblings, or work. Their access to public
space is restricted because their families fear for their safety and
reputation, and they marry at an early age. It is not a coincidence,
therefore, that in adulthood poor women tend to be less educated,
less skilled and less well paid than men. In fact, a study conducted
in the slum area of Bulaq shows that the average income of a female-headed
household is only 48 percent of that of a male headed-household, and
that the leaders of 75 percent of female-headed households are illiterate
compared to 43 percent of male-headed households.
Poor women who head their households also tend to know little about
their political and legal rights, as men are traditionally the bearers
of information about these affairs. A study of seven squatter communities
revealed that 60 percent of female-headed The question of legal identity papers is another pressing concern for low-income FHHs. Women in poor communities are often tagged on to their fathers’ or husbands’ ID cards rather than encouraged to apply for official papers of their own. This is a critical impediment for any woman because without ID, a woman cannot register her assets, work in the formal sector, or qualify for social security. The problem is particularly acute in the case of a FHH, when the woman is solely responsible for the welfare of her family. The plight of these women is largely neglected
in the media and in public concern. The sheer number of poor
women who head their households is only the beginning of the problem,
for it is indisputable that the quality of life of these women will
also affect the lives of their children, and by extension, the future
of their communities.
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