Differential Use and Benefits of Foster Children for Men and Women in Low-Income Households in Bamako, Mali

Sally E. Findley, Columbia University

Low-income households use many strategies to support themselves. This study examines the role of foster children in household survival. In 1987-88 in-depth interviews with 32 individuals, the heads of their households (HH), and the heads of all households (n=53) in their compounds (n = 16) in Bankoni, Bamako, Mali, a rapidly growing, peripheral low-income neighborhood of about 50,000. Only 28% of the HH had any salary income, and 26% reported regular problems in meeting basic needs. Households averaged 2.8 own children and 1.4 other children. 51% had foster children. Children are extensively involved in helping with trade and income generation activities. Foster children help women earn more, but there is no effect on men. Gross household income rises in families with foster children. Per capita expenditure-income gap is narrowed for families with foster children, whose contributions shift per capita expenditures downward, reducing risk in a crisis.

Presented in Session 145: Parent-Child Ties