Single Motherhood Inflicted by Increased Widowhood and Divorce Amid Corona Virus Pandemic: Reflections to Reduce Women's Vulnerability

Abstract

There has been an evident increase in cases of widowhood and divorce, leading to single motherhood during the Corona Virus pandemic. Data on the global scale shows how men, as a group, have been more vulnerable to death during the pandemic due to the disease and health issues caused by socio-economic problems during pandemic. Existing literature also shows how the divorce rate has surged during the pandemic, mainly due to the lockdown, especially among young couples. This research is built on feminist ontology, and the departure point of this research is the assumption that ‘vulnerability’ is interdependent and relationally constituted. This study explores the vulnerabilities of young and middle-aged Pakistani women, who experienced widowhood or divorce during the pandemic, making them single mothers. Six in-depth interviews were conducted with the participants selected using the snowball sampling technique combined with purposive sampling. The participants were from various cities in Pakistan, including Karachi, Lahore, and Rawalpindi. Findings of our study reveal that most of the participants lost the traditional security network that they had before becoming single mothers, which increased their vulnerability to not only health problems, but also to social, economic issues. Building on our in-depth analysis, we offer the following recommendations: (i) to build safety networks for women who are single mothers; (ii) to introduce income support and/or public work initiatives to provide income-generating opportunities to women who are single mothers; (iii) to help owners of small-businesses re-establish their business after the change in their marital status; and (iv) to offer ‘Single Mother Health Cards’ to women who become single mothers to offer them health-related benefits on no/low cost.