One cannot tackle the issue of the family in Lebanon without referring to the women-headed households. According to the statistical survey of the populationand residence, conducted by the Ministry of Social Affairs and issued on October 14, 1996 , 14.2% of families in Lebanon are headed by women (i.e., 91 ,131 families). These women may be widows, divorcees, abandoned, or married to men who were kidnaped, worked abroad, or are sick and incapable of working. One common factor among these women, whatever the socio-economic background, is that they are in charge of their families by force of the situation.
Women-Headed Households in Lebanon