What is a matrifocal family?
A matrifocal family is a family in which the mother is the central figure. The role of the father in family life is negligible.
This type of family is very common among lower-class West Indians, both rural and urban.
What makes the matrifocal family unusual is that the husband takes little or no part in child care. He may spend little time at home, often living elsewhere in the same community. This is socially acceptable in the West Indies. Eventually the older children, when they leave school, contribute towards the earnings of the family and the importance of the father may be reduced even further.
From this point onwards, the mother is not only the focus of emotional ties but also the centre of economic and decision-making activities of the family. This is true whether or not the husband or lover is present as a member of the household.
Older girls frequently take lovers and have children of their own while still living with the family. These children, in turn, often grow up looking to the focal figure of the family, their maternal grandmother, as the dominant figure in their lives.