The relationship between orphanhood and child fostering in sub-Saharan Africa, 1990s–2000s

Abstract

In countries most afflicted by HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, orphanhood has increased dramatically, but the potential consequences of the increase have been mitigated by the ability of households to absorb orphans. This paper examines what the rising levels of orphanhood mean for the common practice of non-orphan child fostering in regions of high and low HIV prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa, which has a long history of child fostering. Using Demographic and Health Survey data from 135 regions within 14 sub-Saharan countries that undertake HIV testing and have had at least two surveys, we examine changes in fostering patterns. In most regions, we find a more accommodating relationship between orphan and non-orphan fostering: communities are able to absorb the demand for both orphans and non-orphans. Where HIV prevalence exceeds 10 per cent there is some evidence that the need to care for orphans is beginning to reduce opportunities for non-orphan fostering.

Keywords:

• orphans
• fostering
• sub-Saharan Africa
• HIV
• AIDS

Notes

1. Monica Grant is at the Department of Sociology, Center for Demography and Ecology, University of Winsconsin-Madison, 4412 Sewell Social Sciences Building, 1180 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA. E-mail: [email protected]. Sara Yeatman is at the Department of Health and Behavioral Sciences, University of Colorado Denver.

2. The authors would like to thank Tom Pullum for technical guidance, Christie Sennott for research assistance, and three anonymous reviewers for feedback on earlier versions of this paper. This work was supported in part by core funding from the NICHD to the Center for Demography and Ecology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison (R24 HD047873).