DETERMINANTS OF DIVORCE IN RWANDA: A CASE STUDY OF KIGALI CITY
Abstract
This research explores the socio-economic determinants of divorce in Rwanda, examining various factors that influence marital dissolution in the country. Rwanda, known for its post-conflict reconstruction and impressive economic growth, has experienced considerable changes in recent decades, impacting various aspects of society, including marriage and family dynamics. The city of Kigali, as the epicenter of these transformations, serves as an ideal case study to investigate the determinants of divorce within the Rwandan context. Understanding the factors associated with divorce is essential for policymakers, researchers, and social workers to develop effective strategies for promoting marital stability and family well-being in Rwanda. The study aimed to provide insights into the underlying reasons for divorce and their impact on Rwandan society. By understanding these determinants, policymakers and practitioners can develop targeted interventions to strengthen marriages and reduce divorce rates. The second half of the twentieth century saw tremendous changes in the economics of the household, as women entered the labor force in growing numbers and the share of dual-earners couples increased. These changes challenge the available theories which explain divorce by economic factors, as they are mostly molded in the homemaker-breadwinner model. In this study, we investigated the validity of two main groups of theories: one which asserts that women’s work has a destabilizing effect on marriage, and assumes asymmetry between the spouses; and another which states that women’s employment has a stabilizing effect, and assumes that relations between spouses are symmetric. Nonetheless, our results demonstrated that the basic assumption of symmetry between the spouses in these theories does not hold. Although employment stability for both spouses appears to reduce divorce risk, only the husband’s salary is shown to negatively affect the odds of divorce and only the wife’s working hours and sector of employment affect marriage instability. Moreover, couples in which the wife earns as much as or more than the husband are found to have the highest divorce risk.
Keywords: Divorce, Employment Stability, Marital Dissolution
CITATION: Gacinya, J. (2023). Determinants of divorce in Rwanda: A case study of Kigali City. The Strategic Journal of Business & Change Management, 11 (1), 53 – 71. http://dx.doi.org/10.61426/sjbcm.v11i1.2838
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.61426/sjbcm.v11i1.2838
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