COHRE Briefing Paper Issue I Head of Household Sri Lanka 2007

W o m e n ’ s

H o u s i n g

R i g h t s

Revisiting the Concept of the Head of the Household The objective of this paper is to question the use of the “head of the household” concept, whether it is by the State or by nonState actors. It will be highlighted that the terminology i.e. “the head of the household” and its implications are discriminatory and does not reflect the practical realities of family life. Recommendations will be made in the future as to how alternatives to the term could be developed.

1. The Concept of the Head of the Household in Sri Lanka According to the Department of Census and Statistics a head of the household is “the person who usually resides in the household and is acknowledged by the other members of the household as the head.” This is a gender neutral definition which focuses on the perception of the rest of the family.

However, the general social perception in Sri Lanka is that the husband failing which the eldest son should be considered to be the head of a household. Research has revealed that this perception has permeated public life as well. There are instances where the father/husband of a family is given the authority to represent the family on the assumption that he is the head of the household.

According to the department of Census and Statistics, about 70% of the households in Sri Lanka are headed by males while about 30% are headed by females. Field research has revealed that women generally become heads of a household only by default, in the absence of a suitable adult male.

Moreover, due to the conflict, natural disasters and migration of workers, many households are being headed by females.

In recognition of this increasing number of female heads of the household, in the

Concluding Observations by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women in 2002, the committee urged the Government to develop policies and programmes to improve the condition of female headed households and stated that it was necessary to recognize female headed households “as equal recipients and beneficiaries of development programmes.”

However as illustrated below, the use of the concept of the Head of the Household, is continued in Sri Lanka and the practices in private and public life implies that the male headed households are the norm and that females head a household only in exceptional situations where a suitable male who could take leadership is absent.

2. Use of the Concept The concept of the head of the household has been found to be in used in many areas of civil life such as, • in day to day dealings with the State administration; • in exceptional situations such as natural disasters; and

P r o g r a m m e

Issue I - August 2007

BRIEFING PAPER

example in the issuing of birth certificates and certificates of marriage. With regard to birth certificates, the certificate itself states the genealogy of the father of the child, whereas only the name of the mother is stated. Further, the form requires the father’s occupation to be mentioned but the mother’s occupation is not required.

Similarly with regard to the form to be filled for the notice of marriage, the occupation details of the fathers of the couple to be married are required and no mention is made of the mother’s occupation.

In the above mentioned examples, the underlying assumption in requesting certain information only from the father is that, the father is the head of the family and that only his “status” reflects the “status” of the family.

Exceptional Situations In exceptional situations such as a conflict or a natural disaster – the Sri Lankan experience suggest that there is an increase in the number of female headed households. For instance, in a study done by the Suriya Women’s Development Centre in the district of Batticaloa in January 2005 , it was revealed that there was an increase in the number of female headed households in the aftermath of the tsunami. According to the report “some women have become the head of household due to the tsunami, others due to the war and the fact that their men had gone to the Middle Eastern countries as migrant workers, or left the communities due to death threats related to the war, or had abandoned them.”

• in official documentation.

Day-to-day dealings with the State Administration Research has revealed that certain aspects of State administration are reliant on the concept of the head of the household either directly or indirectly. For instance, the form used by the Grama Niladhari to prepare the voters list, explicitly requires that each household identifies its head. The objective of requiring such classification however is not clear.

The indirect use of the concept of the head of the household is evidenced for

The issue that such heads of households face is that they have to counter the socially and officially established norm that a male is the head of the household. For instance, land grants in this country are to the male head of the household and in intestate succession to such land grants preference is given to the male child. Therefore, in such cases, in addition to dealing with the emotional trauma of loosing a loved one or of having to cope with the impact of a conflict- female heads of household will face the additional burden of not having the recognition that is due to them as the head of a household.

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Official Documentation It has been evidenced that statistical assessments of households are based on the concept of the head of the household. For instance in the report Poverty in Sri Lanka – Issues and Options some of the standards used for measuring poverty are, • by the income of the head of the household; • by the level of education of the head of the household; and • the poorest and the least poorest GS districts are identified on the basis of the characteristics of the head of the household.

Further, in the Sri Lanka Labour Force Survey - under personal information of a household, the details of the head of household have to be stated first. However, as in the case of the voters list the rationale for requiring this classification is not clear.

3. Impact of the Use of the Concept The use of the concept of the Head of the Household, as evidenced above amounts to discriminatory practice on several grounds. Firstly, assessment on the basis of the personal attributes of the head of the household completely overlooks and undermines the contribution of the other members of the household to the wellbeing of that family unit.

Secondly, it reinforces the idea that only a head of the household (usually a male) provides for the family. In practice however, the contribution of a housewife and her level of education go a long way in determining the quality of life in a family unit.

Thirdly, where the head of the household concept is used in policy making and programme design, the other members of the household can be either sidelined or even ignored. The policies for instance will be drafted with the head of the household as the focal point. In addition to being discriminatory, such policies will not be effective as it will not be giving full consideration to the contribution to decision making, for example, by the other members of the family.

Fourthly, in the event that a family decides that the senior female should be the head of the household in spite of other senior males in the family unit – she would have to counter the general presumption in her social dealings, in dealing with the State administration in general affairs, and especially in exceptional situations such as

conflict or natural disaster. Even where the female takes on the role of the head of the household by default, she too will be faced with this general assumption that it is the male that should head the household. This in itself is an obstacle to effective realization of gender equality.

Fifthly, identifying one “head” of a household amounts to stereotyping. Such an assumption ignores the reality that there are a range of family types. For instance, in Sri Lanka, while most urban families consist of two generations in a household, rural areas are known for households which consist of three generations and can also include members of the extended family. The dynamics of such family types cannot be the same.

Therefore, the practice of nominating one person as the head of a household has to be reviewed. It is discriminatory and does not reflect the realities of family life.

The domestic law in Sri Lanka clearly states that women are to be given equal treatment before the law and that there shall be no discrimination based on gender except for purposes of affirmative action. This constitutional principle is violated where only males are given recognition as heads of their households in the interactions of the family unit with the State or even with nonState actors.

Furthermore, Sri Lanka has undertaken at the international level to protect and promote the equality of women in areas of family and public life. This obligation too is violated by the use of the concept of the head of the household.

4. Alternatives to using the concept of the Head of the Household The above discussion has highlighted the discriminatory impact of the use of the concept of the Head of the Household. It is submitted that the best alternative to addressing this problem would be to abolish the concept and to reject the terminology.

In its place a new concept and a new term should be introduced. The new concept and terminology should reflect the realities of family life such as:

• the contribution of the females and children to the economic stability of the family; • the contribution of all members of the family to decision making; and • the different family types in existence today.

Making this change is critical to establishing equality within a family unit and also for

promoting a balanced view of family life.

This in turn will reduce any spaces for discrimination within the family.

Along with such change it is imperative that measures be adopted to change the perception of both society and the State to see the leadership of a household from a gender neutral perspective. It must be accepted that a family consists of a unit and that each member of that unit has a role to play. If the State is to formulate effective policies and design effective programmes, this reality must be taken into account.

Establishing an alternative to the concept of the head of the household must be considered to be a matter of priority. Wider consultation is required in deciding as to the nature and scope of an alternative to the concept. COHRE welcomes all stakeholders to discuss effective approaches to abolishing the head of the household concept. 

Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions 106 1/1, Horton Place, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka.

Email: srilanka@cohre.org Tel: +94 11 2693143 www.cohre.org/srilanka