ABSTRACT
In traditional Tswana society, a household was rarely composed of a nuclear family unit containing merely a husband, his wife, and their children. Household structures reflected extended family origins, and included other relatives and, sometimes, non-relatives, who played a vital role in the social, economic, and political affairs of the family (Gaisie 1998; Poupokouta 1995). In recent years, however, there has been evidence of a change in the household structure of the country. The most distinctive characteristics of Tswana households in the last censuses include a large number of female heads and the importance of “grandchild” as a category of relationship. According to the 1991 census, 47 percent of households in Botswana were headed by women, and 31 percent of the children aged 0–14 years were grandchildren of the head of household.
