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16 - Situating the family within the capabilities framework: a collective conversion factor

The role of the household configuration in the quality of life in Mali

from Part III - Social Choice and Capabilities in Action

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2024

By
Claudine Sauvain-Dugerdil  and
Siaka Cissé
Edited by
Flavio Comim ,
P. B. Anand  and
Shailaja Fennell
Flavio Comim
Affiliation:
Universitat Ramon Llull
P. B. Anand
Affiliation:
University of Bradford
Shailaja Fennell
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
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Summary

The familys economic and socio-cultural capital and how it is shared among its members influence a person’s capabilities and choices. This chapter posits that the family acts as a collective conversion factor, and presents a case study in Mali. A typology of household configurations that best expresses the diversity of family forms is built, then used to see the relation to the overall quality of life of household members, measured by goods (household assets) and opportunities (child education and women’s autonomy). The association between these configurations and children’s access to schooling, controlling for the household standard of living, is then considered, regression analysis results showing that access to education is correlated with the household standard of living, but there is also a household configuration net effect. Extended households seem better off and better suited to develop solidarity strategies that facilitate access to schooling. But the priority given to education also appears to play a role in differences between households, shown by a higher education rate of children in rural households headed by an educated man and in urban ones that are female-headed.

Keywords

Family ConfigurationCollective conversion factorsMalicensus dataquality of lifeschooling
Type
Chapter
Information
Social Choice, Agency, Inclusiveness and Capabilities , pp. 356 - 384
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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