The concept of female-headed household has emerged as an important analytical
category in the examination of poverty in life chances both within the context of policy
research and social science scholarship. This paper presents the complexities that arise
in the use of the concept offemale-headed household within the context of Botswana. The
paper presents some of the criticisms that the concept of headship in itself presents a
monolithic and often limited notion of social organisation that fails to take into account
complex gendered social interactions that occur within and outside the confines of
domestic units. The results of a study conducted in 1996 reveal the complex interplay of
cultural-structure and individual agency that are obscured by discrete notions of
'headship '