Heterogeneity and Female-Headed Households in Sri Lanka: Vulnerability and Resilience in a Transitional Development Society
type: CreativeWork
description: Since the 1970s, female-headed households (FHHs) in developing countries have often been used in development literature as a proxy for poverty and vulnerability. In reality the profile of women-headed households is diverse; they include, at the least, rich and poor women, aged widows as well as young single mothers and wives of migrant workers, educated professionals and semi-literate manual labourers. This diversity of characteristics, with its attendant diversity of experience and vulnerability unfolds a picture of heterogeneity, rather than homogeneity. Yet, despite ample evidence that FHHs are, in fact, heterogeneous and not homogeneous, contemporary research and practice remains caught dominantly within the ‘poverty-vulnerability’ nexus. The heterogeneity of female headship is undermined by conventional notions of homogeneity. It is this gap that the present research addresses. Drawing on interdisciplinary perspectives especially from demography, gender studies; particularly gender and development, risk and vulnerability studies, as well as scholarship on social capital, this thesis employs a ‘heterogeneity’ lens to specifically examine the complexities of household formation, economic conditions and social relations of FHHs in Sri Lanka, in an attempt to explore their vulnerabilities and resilience. The choice of Sri Lanka as the context for this study is grounded in the demographic reality of a relatively high, and consistently increasing, proportion of households headed by women since the 1970s. By 2009/10, FHHs accounted for nearly one-quarter of all households, throughout the country. In order to capture the geographical and social diversity of FHHs, empirical research was conducted in three contrasting types of district in Sri Lanka, encompassing urban, rural, and estate sectors. Two main data collection strategies were employed in a mixed methods approach: a sample survey of a cross-section of 534 FHHs, and in-depth interviews with 32 female heads purpos…
abstract: Since the 1970s, female-headed households (FHHs) in developing countries have often been used in development literature as a proxy for poverty and vulnerability. In reality the profile of women-headed households is diverse; they include, at the least, rich and poor women, aged widows as well as young single mothers and wives of migrant workers, educated professionals and semi-literate manual labourers. This diversity of characteristics, with its attendant diversity of experience and vulnerability unfolds a picture of heterogeneity, rather than homogeneity. Yet, despite ample evidence that FHHs are, in fact, heterogeneous and not homogeneous, contemporary research and practice remains caught dominantly within the ‘poverty-vulnerability’ nexus. The heterogeneity of female headship is undermined by conventional notions of homogeneity. It is this gap that the present research addresses. Drawing on interdisciplinary perspectives especially from demography, gender studies; particularly gender and development, risk and vulnerability studies, as well as scholarship on social capital, this thesis employs a ‘heterogeneity’ lens to specifically examine the complexities of household formation, economic conditions and social relations of FHHs in Sri Lanka, in an attempt to explore their vulnerabilities and resilience. The choice of Sri Lanka as the context for this study is grounded in the demographic reality of a relatively high, and consistently increasing, proportion of households headed by women since the 1970s. By 2009/10, FHHs accounted for nearly one-quarter of all households, throughout the country. In order to capture the geographical and social diversity of FHHs, empirical research was conducted in three contrasting types of district in Sri Lanka, encompassing urban, rural, and estate sectors. Two main data collection strategies were employed in a mixed methods approach: a sample survey of a cross-section of 534 FHHs, and in-depth interviews with 32 female heads purpos…
author: Adikaram Boyagoda, Adikaram Mudiyanselage Kumudika Suramya
keywords: Female headed households, Vulnerability, social capital
license: https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstreams/a8ed51ff-7fb8-4a9f-a08e-6431b2e25c3d/download
date published: 2014
date modified: 2026-07-24T05:57:46Z
provider: University Waikato
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Waikato