Coping with Family and Work Responsibilities in the Context of Rapid Urbanisation: Strategies of Mothers in Accra, Ghana

The process of urbanization in sub-Saharan Africa has had gendered consequences as economic, socio-cultural and environmental transformations have resulted in the greater intensification of women’s burdens compared to men’s. In such shifting contexts the combination of maternal productive and reproductive roles may be increasingly difficult which raises the question of how mothers cope with their multiple responsibilities. This research develops a greater understanding of the coping strategies adopted by mothers of young children in Accra, Ghana through the use of mixed methods. Qualitative data was analyzed according to Hall’s (1972) typology of coping mechanisms. Whilst a diversity of coping strategies was found to be employed by mothers, the majority of these were of a structural role redefinition approach. Of primary importance was the childcare strategy utilized. In order to quantitative investigate variation in the adoption of this coping strategy multinomial regression was performed on data from the Accra Urban Food and Nutritional Security Survey. This study found that mothers are active agents involved in the shaping of the expectations of their work and family roles. In particular the implementation of coping strategies, which vary by the age of their children allows them to reduce vulnerability.