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Synopsis Family is the basic unit of society and is a living and evolving institution affected by several external factors. Thee factors vary from region to region and become the driving forces in creating new family structures. Indian family is not an exception to this phenomenon. One of the important changes in the family since 1950s has been the emergence of one-parent families, more specifically women-headed families. These families though equated with single parent households, differ from them in many ways. Women headed households are usually formed because of widowhood, divorce, separation and abandonment. Migration of husbands for a considerable period of time and husband’s loss of earning power due to ill health, disability also form major contributing factors for the formation of such households. Throughout the world, the number of women heading households is on the rise. In India, the death of the husband is one of the frequent causes of women headed households. I am sure the book will be useful to students and scholars in family studies in understanding the growing phenomenon of women headed families in Indian context.