Why rely on friends instead of family? The role of exchanges and civic engagement in a rural sub-Saharan African context

Abstract

Social science research has shown there is a nearly universal norm of seeking assistance from family members in times of need. However, when do individuals prefer to rely on friends, rather than family members, when they need support? This question has not been carefully addressed. To fill this gap in the literature we examine why rural Malawians – who typically have strong bonds with kin – might prefer to rely on friends instead of family if a crisis were to occur. Using the 2008 and 2010 waves of the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health (MLSFH), we consider how financial and non-financial exchanges with kin, and civic engagement, are associated with the composition of individuals' support networks. We find the decision to request a friend's help during a crisis is consistently associated with participation in civic-oriented activities, expanding our understanding of the determinants of different risk-pooling strategies.

Private Intergenerational Transfers, Family Structure, and Health in a sub‐Saharan African Context

“…As family members in rural Malawi tend to rely on each other in times of financial hardship (I. Kohler et al. ; Myroniuk, Prell, and Kohler ), we are able to show how transfer patterns evolve across the life‐course, with individuals cycling through periods of time being net recipients and net providers of transfers, and how transfer patterns adapt to predictable changes in family contexts and unexpected socioeconomic shocks. Third, our analyses contribute to the literature by documenting the links between household composition, middle‐aged adults’ physical and mental health, external stressors such as household‐level shocks, and intergenerational transfer patterns using fixed‐effects regression models.…”

“…Specifically, in the 2008 and 2010 waves, respondents were also asked a series of questions listing individuals (both family members and non‐kin) on whom they would rely for financial or non‐financial assistance in times of crisis. Overall, respondents were substantially more likely to list kin as potential sources of transfers, on average listing 1.4 family members for every non‐kin source (Myroniuk, Prell, and Kohler ). Respondents were also substantially more likely to actually receive transfers from kin than non‐kin, and more likely to receive a higher amount of financial support (“some” or “a lot” of financial help) from kin than from non‐kin (Myroniuk, Prell, and Kohler ).…”

“…Overall, respondents were substantially more likely to list kin as potential sources of transfers, on average listing 1.4 family members for every non‐kin source (Myroniuk, Prell, and Kohler ). Respondents were also substantially more likely to actually receive transfers from kin than non‐kin, and more likely to receive a higher amount of financial support (“some” or “a lot” of financial help) from kin than from non‐kin (Myroniuk, Prell, and Kohler ). These analyses thus confirm that intergenerational transfers, on which we focus in the analyses presented here, are the primary source of resource flows in the lives of MLSFH respondents.…”

Media Consumption and Civic Engagement: The Reasoned Action Theory as a Way Forward to Determine The Relationship

“…Civic engagement and its ensuing activism can also be seen in advancing social issues. These issues concern poverty such as in Africa where civil organisations have been in the forefront in advocating civic engagement by promoting action and formulation of policies to address poverty (du Toit, 2017;Mercer & Green, 2013;Monyake, 2018;Myroniuk, Prell & Kohler, 2017). Another social concern that drives civic engagement concerns climate change.…”

Shocks and migration in Malawi

“…These shocks can be environmental, such as floods or droughts; economic, such as famines, and fluctuating prices for agricultural products; or filial, such as the death of household members (Gray and Bilsborrow 2013;Foresight 2011;IPCC 2014;Unite Nations 2015). The persistent, underlying threat of environmental, economic, or household shocks influence rural Malawians' livelihood strategies; individuals create a bastion of large and small sources of financial and nonfinancial support networks to access in times of crisis (Kohler et al 2012;Myroniuk, Prell, and Kohler 2017).…”