Uganda study reveals how child-headed households survive without state support

<p>Child-headed households are a new family modality that has emerged due to HIV/AIDS, parental neglect and abandonment and migration among other factors. Children have taken up parenting and care roles for themselves, their siblings and sometimes other kinsmen. As they take on such roles, they encounter several adversities and experience difficulty acquiring basic needs such as food, housing, education, medical care and clothing. These children, as family heads, interact with physical, social, and cultural environments that bring about adversities but also offer the necessary resources for meeting needs and coping with adversities. Our study sought to explore the specific resources available to children as family heads and how those resources enable child-headed households to meet their needs and cope with the adversities they encounter. We utilised a qualitative methodology with an exploratory case study design to unravel the opinions of six purposively selected children who head families in Kampala, Uganda. We gathered children’s narratives through interviews, which were later transcribed and analysed thematically. Study findings indicated that children tapped into a range of resources such as social networks, including relatives, neighbours, friends, state and civil society departments and organisations. Children as family heads also relied on family land, religiosity and participation in income-generating activities to cope with their adversities and acquire basic needs.</p>