Author(s)

Kilundu Mbukani Médard^1*, Kawaya Meya Odon², Athanase Nsengiyumva³, Joseph Ndayisaba⁴, Sheria Nfundiko Justin⁵

¹Department of Socio-Anthropology, Burundi Doctoral School, University of Burundi, Bujumbura, Burundi,.
²Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Bandundu, Bandundu, Democratic Republic of Congo.
³Centre for Language Teaching in Burundi, University of Burundi, Bujumbura, Burundi.
⁴Department of Psychology, University of Burundi, Bujumbura, Burundi.
⁵Faculty of Social, Political and Administrative Sciences, Official University of Bukavu, Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo.

This article describes the situation of single-parent families in urban areas, in the city of Bukavu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It shows the process that the parent undertakes in the detours of building a new life after the absence or loss of a spouse. Through interviews and observation, the study presents the forms of single-parent families with the aim of assessing family models in this contemporary social mutation. Managing this state of life depends on the mechanisms that the single parent displays to get round the difficulties in organising the household. Strategies for coping with the phenomenon of single parenthood provide an opportunity to indicate the criteria that determine household management and organisation, but with consequences that reveal the problem of single parenthood in society and above all for the future of the child and the single parent.

Single Parenthood, Management, Survival Strategies, Bukavu

Médard, K. , Odon, K. , Nsengiyumva, A. , Ndayisaba, J. and Justin, S. (2024) Single-Parent Families in Urban Areas: Management, Resilience and Life Stories. The Case of Bukavu. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 12, 494-519. doi: 10.4236/jss.2024.128030.