Commuting couples in Nigeria face significant financial burdens due to maintaining two residences, duplicated expenses, and high travel and communication costs.
Authors
Caroline Agboola, Professor, Jindal Institute of Behavioural Sciences, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, India; Department of Sociology, Faculty of Humanities, University of Johannesburg, Kingsway Campus, Johannesburg, South Africa
Sahmicit Kankemwa Kumswa, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Jos, Jos, Nigeria
Simon Murote Kang’ethe, Department of Social Work, Walter Sisulu University, Eastern Cape, South Africa
Summary
Commuter couples are married people who do not live in the same home due to various reasons. The decision for one spouse to live away from home is usually made to enhance the family’s socioeconomic condition. This study used a qualitative research approach to investigate the expenditures of 17 commuting couples in Jos, Nigeria. Findings revealed that the choice of the spouse who commutes is gendered and determined by a specific social norm in some parts of Africa. Unlike in Western countries, the burden of commuting was undertaken solely by the husbands because men are expected to take up the gender role of breadwinners in many parts of Africa. At the same time, the wives did not commute or rarely commuted. If the wives commuted, it was not for work but to visit the husbands in the secondary residence. This created two concurrent residences for the family: the primary residence, where the wife and children often resided, and a secondary residence, which is often far away from the primary residence. The husbands only lived in the secondary residence, which is close to their place of work, and visited the primary residence regularly.
The findings indicate that running two residences compelled the commuter couples to spend a lot of money to secure accommodation for their two homes; two residences led to the duplication of daily expenses of the families, the high cost of maintaining contact between the couples via the telephone; living arrangements, the inconvenience and high travel cost for commuting between the two residences; and the financial obligations to the extended family, friends and community, which often required that the family spend money on the husbands’ commute to take part in such events.
Published in: Marriage and Family Review
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