Social Costs and Benefits of the Transformation of the Traditional Families in an African Urban Society

Abstract

This chapter analysed the social costs and benefits of changing lifestyles and livelihoods adopted by the families in Africa to fit in the obtaining urban environments. The transformation is in a way to minimise the cost and maximise the benefits of urbanism. The net overall effect of the transformation has been increasing household poverty signified by poor incomes, family instability, increased nucleation of families and disbanding of family rural ties for the city. In most cases, this means increased vulnerability and insecurity of the traditional family. How then do the urbanised traditional families cope with city pressures? The study draws cases from South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Egypt these being countries where urbanisation levels are in critical variation due to varying circumstances including the removal of apartheid restrictions, armed conflict, economic instability, population explosion, existence of pristine conditions, possibility of overurbanisation and proclivity to maintaining tradition, respectively.

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