Reasons Impelling To Engagement of Squat Payment by Solitary Mothers: A Case of Solitary Mothers in a City in Tanzania

Abstract

This study is about the examination of reasons that lead to the engagement of squat salary works by squat income solitary mothers. The data was collected from through a questionnaire administered to 150 solitary mothers with limited income in one of the cities in Tanzania and utilizing focus groups and in-depth interviews. With the use of descriptive statistics and content analysis, the study found out that poverty, lack of education and skills, lack of formal employment, loneliness and poor social network are the key reasons that influence squat income solitary women to go in for squat paying jobs. The study recommends specific programs in the aspects of adult education and entrepreneurship, capital grants to start businesses as a way of self-employment and an avenue to generate income, cheap day-care schools and welfare centers to assist in the early education of the children of the squat income solitary mothers, ensuring that the living fathers of the children support their children every month and are held responsible, and establishment of a platform for counselling low-income solitary mothers when they are no longer at ease with their living partners so that they can smoothly transit to solitary motherhood with the responsibilities therein.