Paper short abstract:

Changing roles of women in West African capitals are likely to  destabilize gender relations. This communication will focus on the  transformations of masculinity, understood as the investments of  men in domestic work, care-giving and children education, through the  example of Dakar and Lome

Paper long abstract:

LONG : Women in West African capitals are more and more numerous in 

so-called "modern" jobs in the "formal" sector of the economy, because 

of their better access to schooling in recent decades. These 

transformations are likely to destabilize gender relations. On the one 

hand, professional work is no longer a men privilege. On the other 

hand, increasing women's access to employment income and their 

contribution to household income is shaking up the "male breadwinner" 

model.

This communication will focus on the transformations of masculinity, 

understood here as the investments of men in domestic work, 

care-giving and children education, through the example of two West 

African capitals : Dakar and Lome

This communication will be based on a cross-analysis of quantitative 

and qualitative surveys conducted in Dakar and Lome. In Dakar, a 

quantitative survey, inspired by the one conducted in Lomé in 2010 (on 

500 households) was conducted in 2018 among 1,200 households. These 

surveys include the usual participation of household members in 

domestic work, current household expenditures and in educational and 

care-giving work. These data will be mobilized to uncover the division 

of domestic work within households and the profiles of married men who 

are currently investing domestic , educational and care-giving work. 

Therefore, the communication will answer to major questions : • How 

does fatherhood change (or remain the same) with motherhood shifts ? • 

How do different family formations and changing economic roles of 

mothers, influence fatherhood?