The Situation of Widows: Do Sons and Brothers Help?

Carol Vlassoff

Chapter 8 in Gender Equality and Inequality in Rural India, 2013, pp 137-156 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract The situation of widows in India has received relatively little research attention compared to other gender issues (Mohindra et al., 2012). However, the subject is an important one, given that women outlive men in most countries, including India, and also because females marry at a younger age, therefore increasing the time they spend in a widowed state. Women are less likely to remarry, their employment opportunities are fewer, their wages are lower, and they are less likely to inherit land. The lone widow may be forced by the loss of her husband’s earnings to sell her land or other assets in order to survive. Thus, widows require more old age support than widowed men, and their need for sons as insurance against adversity may also be greater (Vlassoff, 1990b).

Keywords: Gender Equality; Household Head; Living Arrangement; Wage Laborer; Economic Support (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-137-37392-2_8

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DOI: 10.1057/9781137373922_8

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