Hertta-Maria Amutenja
Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) leader, McHenry Venaani will table a notice of motion in parliament on Tuesday, to explore possible remedies such as subsidised utilities and public transport to create better safety nets for single mothers.
In addition, he will call for lessening the disproportionate socio-economic burden placed on single mothers.
“Single-parent households generally have lower incomes and are more vulnerable to food insecurity. Further, that this motion be referred to the relevant Parliamentary Standing Committee,” read the notice of motion.
In his notice, Venaani said according to the most recent census Namibia has 464 839 households, of which 65 percent are headed by a single person and the majority are headed by women.
“Typically, we understand a great proportion of these households are headed by women. The census report indicates that 43.8 percent of Namibian households are female-headed. This is supported by trends which indicate that women are generally more likely than their male counterparts to parent and raise their children,” it read.
In an interview, Venaani said single mothers are suffering, to keep their children alive and are deprived of a good life socially and economically.
“Many of these households are led by single mothers. We can look at cheaper electricity and utilities for single parents. We have to define the income bracket when it comes to these things. It is not every single mother who is a chief executive officer or a director,” he said.
The notice indicates that this is supported by trends that indicate that women are generally more likely than their male counterparts to raise their children.
“According to a report of the Office of the Judiciary, we had 31 104 active maintenance cases by 2018, of which 15 097 were default cases. We are also aware that a great proportion of single parents opt not to pursue child maintenance orders. This indicates a skewed socio-economic burden placed on women in caring for children and families,” it read.
