Perceptions of Parental Functions among Married People in Benin

Abstract :

Parental function remains one of the rare “jobs” that people exercise without any prior formal preparation. The consequences associated with poor parenting skills, however, raise many social issues. An important factor in positive parenting is the partage of and ability to fulfill parental roles. Unfortunately, parenthood is a very little explored field of research in Benin. To identify perceptions of parental roles in the country, one-on-one semi-structured interviews with married women and men were conducted. The results indicate a distinct division of parental functions along maternal-paternal lines with respondents perceiving sexual division of responsibilities as being ‘natural’ rather than through a gendered lens. And yet, the reality is that maternal ability to engage in income-generation activities is critically important in fulfilling parental roles and this is negatively impacted by childcaring responsibilities, especially in contexts of high fertility.

In the context of developing and implementing parenting support policies, this data could be useful to public authorities and structures intervening in this field.