(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) The National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) recently conducted a study titled 'Characteristics of households headed by women'.
A press release said that the aim of the study was to identify characteristics of women who head their households and the socioeconomic characteristics of their families, including the level of education, status of accommodation, income and spending patterns, which will help authorities in policy making and future development.
The study covered 260,120 Omani households, of which 8.3 per cent are headed by women and 91 per cent by men. A quarter of the households covered are based in the governorate of Muscat, while 15.8 per cent are based in North Batinah. Only one per cent of households in the governorate of Musandam are headed by women.
Of the number of women heading their families, 45 per cent are widows, 19 per cent divorced, 28 per cent married and eight per cent single. According to the study, married women head their households due to disability of the husband or their inability to work or because the husband works in another city.
When comparing the economic characteristics of households headed by men with those headed by women, the study showed that average monthly income is RO1,128 and RO408 respectively. Also, half of the households headed by women depend on regular wages paid by the public or private sectors, while the other half depends on irregular income such as from property, pension, and other transactions. Conversely, 78 per cent of households led by men are dependent on regular monthly wages.
The average monthly spending for households headed by women is RO581, while households headed by men spend RO745 on average per month. The study also showed that, regardless of the gender of the head of the household, basic commodities (food) ranks highest in household spending, followed by transport. Also, 80 per cent of the families headed by women live in a family-owned accommodation.
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