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women in the old city of Lahore, Boulder, Colo. 1992.Indrani ChatterjeeSub-Saharan AfricaCentering on women in Muslim communities of
Sub-Saharan Africa, this entry begins with an
overview of household forms and composition; it
then emphasizes the complexity of women’s experi-
ences by considering households in the context of
broader social processes, including intra- and inter-
household dynamics.
All statistical data in the entry, unless otherwise
noted, comes from Demographic and Health Surveys
(2003), which includes all countries in the region
with significant or majority Muslim populations.Overview
The household is the residential unit. It is gener-
ally patrilocal; that is, upon marriage women move
to men’s households. Most houses are owned by
men, but in some towns along the Swahili coast 85
percent are owned by women (Askew 1999). Six
primary household forms include: three elementary
types (single parent, nuclear, and polygynous); two
extended types (three-generational and lateral);
and same sex. In addition, “hearth-holds” (Eke-
jiuba 1995) are nested within most households.
Over their lifetimes, most women reside at least
briefly in each of these forms. By most definitions,
each household includes a head. Twenty-five per-
cent are female-headed. Nuclear households are the
norm; that is, slightly more households are nuclear
than any other form. There is no evidence that
nuclear households are becoming more common or
smaller (Bongaarts 2001). Three-generational and
lateral households, about equal in number, are the258 household forms and composition
next most common; these are followed closely by
polygynous and same sex, also roughly equal in
number. Single-parent households are by far the
least common.
The mean household size is about six, includ-
ing 2.8 adults and 3.2 children. Twenty percent
of households have only one or two members,
whereas 15 percent have nine or more members.
Extended households are generally larger than ele-
mentary ones, but no systematic evidence exists
linking household form and size. Twenty-five per-
cent include at least one foster child. Although no
statistical data is available, many households in-
clude residential domestic workers.
Single-parent households consist only of a head
and his or her children. The majority are female
headed.
Nuclear households consist only of a head, one
spouse, and their children. A tiny minority are
female-headed.
Polygynous households consist only of a male
head, two to four spouses, and their children.
Three-generational households include grand-
parents, their adult male offspring often together
with their wives, and their grandchildren. Very few
are female-headed. Typically they are headed by
either a grandfather or the eldest male of the middle
generation.
Laterally extended households often include sib-
lings and sometimes their spouses, cousins and
other relatives of the head, and sometimes friends
of the siblings, usually of the head. The vast major-
ity are male headed.
Same sex households consist primarily of either
adult males or females, who may or may not be rela-
tives. Females head all female same sex households.
Hearth-holds are mother-children units within
households, symbolically defined by the hearths
owned by virtually all adult women.Lived experiences of women in
households
This overview of general patterns provides only a
snapshot view of household forms and composi-
tion. “The household” is not a static institution.
Household forms have evolved through centuries
of complex interaction between Islam and African
models, and through a century in adaptation to
colonialism, urbanization, capitalism, nationalism,
and global media. Households are not discrete enti-
ties; they are embedded within wider structures and
broader systems of production, consumption, and
distribution (Guyer and Peters 1987). Household
forms are “in continual flux as the domestic cycle
unfolds and as families respond to changing oppor-