Why We Must Dismantle the Myth of “Irresponsible” Men

In Ghana, a quiet crisis is unfolding within our households, churches, mosques, and communities. It is a crisis of silent shame, financial desperation, and broken expectations. Both Islamic principles (such as Nafaqah) and deeply entrenched customary traditions place the sole financial burden of the household squarely on the husband’s shoulders. He is mandated to provide food, shelter, clothing, medical care, and education. When a man fails to meet these demands, society is swift to brand him. He is labeled "irresponsible," "lazy," or "good for nothing." But as an observer of our socio-economic fabric, I ask a fundamental question: Are we being fair to the menfolk? Do they merit condemnation when their household expenses mathematically outstrip their incomes?

Former President John Agyekum Kufuor once famously remarked: "The workers pretend they are working; the government pretends workers are being paid." Today, that pretense has turned into a deadly game of survival where workers are forced to become financial magicians, and the cost of the magic trick is their very lives.

The Unforgiving Arithmetic of Ghanaian Survival

Let us strip away the cultural moralizing and look strictly at the numbers. Consider a highly conservative, bare-minimum monthly budget for a typical urban family of four (father, mother, and two children):

• Food: GHc 20 for breakfast, GHc 20 for lunch, and GHc 30 for supper. That equals GHc 70 a day, which amounts to GHc 2,100 a month.
• Shelter and Utilities: Finding decent accommodation for GHc 300 a month is nearly impossible today, but let us conservatively budget GHc 300 for rent and GHc 200 for water and electricity. That totals GHc 500.
• Clothing: Limiting the family strictly to secondhand (foos) clothing, we allocate a meager GHc 200 for the entire household.
• Other Essentials: Transportation, basic medical emergencies (such as a sudden bout of malaria), social obligations, and child education are capped at a restrictive GHc 500.

The absolute baseline for survival is GHc 3,300 per month.

Now, contrast this with reality. The vast majority of workers in Ghana earn net salaries between GHc 1,000 and GHc 2,000. For retired citizens, the tragedy is even worse: nearly 80% of pensioners take home less than GHc 1,000 a month, with some scraping by on a bare minimum of GHc 400.

If your income is GHc 1,500 and your basic, highly compromised survival cost is GHc 3,300, you face a monthly deficit of GHc 1,800. A man in this position is not "irresponsible." He is trapped in a structural deficit.

The 2022–2025 Pension Betrayal: When the Safety Net Collapsed

To truly understand how we arrived here, we must look at how pensioners were systematically shortchanged during the macroeconomic crisis of 2022 to 2025.

First, the purchasing power of the elderly was vaporized by hyperinflation. When inflation peaked at an unprecedented 54.1% in December 2022, the cost of basic goods skyrocketed. Yet, annual pension indexations by the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) remained far below the rate of inflation. A pensioner earning GHc 400 in 2022 was handed a nominal increase, but in real terms, their ability to buy food and life-saving medication was cut in half.

Second, the state actively targeted retirees' financial security through the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP). In a heartbreaking spectacle that will forever remain a stain on our national conscience, elderly citizens --- members of the Pensioner Bondholders Forum --- were forced to hold picket lines outside the Ministry of Finance. These senior citizens, who had spent decades serving the nation, had to beg the government not to destroy the modest interest yields on the bonds they relied on to survive.

When the state itself defaults on its moral and financial obligations to its elders, how can we look at a retired father earning GHc 600 a month and call him "irresponsible" for failing to feed his family?

What the Academics Tell Us: Theories of Structural Stress

This disconnect is heavily supported by established behavioral and sociological theories:

• Sociology: Structural Strain Theory (Robert K. Merton)

Merton argued that society sets up cultural goals (e.g., being a successful male provider) but fails to provide the institutionalized means (realistic wages) to achieve them. When the means do not match the goals, "strain" occurs. Branding a man "irresponsible" is society's way of blaming the individual for a failure of the state structure.

• Family Sociology: Role Overload and Conjugal Divergence

Traditional models of "Separate Conjugal Roles" assign rigid tasks to men (earning) and women (nurturing). When the economic base collapses, these rigid roles break. Progressive societies must transition toward "Joint Conjugal Roles" where financial survival and domestic labor are shared partnerships.

• Psychology: Minority Stress and the "Strong Man" Syndrome

In psychology, the constant cognitive load of chronic financial deficit triggers elevated cortisol levels, leading to hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and mental exhaustion. The societal expectation that men must remain silent and "figure it out" without complaining prevents them from seeking help. This severe, unmanaged stress is a major driver behind why men, on average, die younger than women.

The Global Fight for the "Living Wage"

The demand for realistic compensation is not a radical or new concept. Historically, the fight for a "Living Wage" (distinguished from a bare-minimum survival wage) has been championed by monumental figures:

• Adam Smith (1776): In The Wealth of Nations, the father of modern economics wrote that a laborer must earn enough to bring up a family and afford basic decency, noting that "no society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable."
• Pope Leo XIII (1891): In his historic encyclical Rerum Novarum, he advocated for a "just wage" sufficient to support a frugal worker and his family, stating that employers have a moral duty not to exploit desperate labor.
• Modern Movements: The global Living Wage Foundation has successfully pressured governments and corporations worldwide to benchmark wages against the actual cost of living, rather than arbitrary, politically motivated minimum wage floors.

The African Exception: Is Sufficient Pay Possible?

Many argue that Africa is simply too poor to afford realistic wages, but regional data proves this is a policy choice, not a continental destiny.

According to wage index data, countries like Morocco (minimum wage approx. $374/month) and Mauritius (approx. $371/month) have managed to align their national wage standards closer to actual living costs through diversified economies, strong social safety nets, and robust institutional governance.

In contrast, our current structure forces citizens to operate in a state of institutionalized pretense. Governments pretend to govern and care, while choosing to underpay the civil service and neglect pension adjustments, relying on the resilient "magic" of the Ghanaian worker to prevent total societal collapse.

Can the Status Quo Change, or is it Irreversible?

The dual-pronged crisis of societal shaming and economic starvation is entirely reversible, but it requires a massive, synchronized shift on two fronts:

1. Changing the Narrative at Home and in Houses of Worship: Churches and mosques must stop preaching 19th-century domestic financial models in a 21st-century economic depression. Religious and traditional leaders must actively champion the concept of shared partnership. Marriage must be preached as a joint economic venture where both partners co-create financial security, rather than a system where the man is a human ATM and the woman is a dependent.
2. Systemic Wage and Pension Reforms: The state must transition from a "Minimum Wage" framework to a "Living Wage" framework. Pensions must be structurally protected from inflation. We cannot build a sustainable country when the reward for 35 years of active public service is a monthly pension payout that cannot buy a single bag of cement.

My Thoughts
It is time to stop calling our husbands, fathers, and brothers "irresponsible" for failing to perform miracles. There is no doubt that there are a few bad nuts out there. Many men have taken to alcoholism, drug abuse and reckless behavior out of frustration. When a system is rigged, the player is not to blame for losing. Let us dismantle the destructive myth of the "magic provider," share the burden at home, and direct our collective voice where it belongs, demanding a realistic wage for the honest labor of the Ghanaian worker.

FUSEINI ABDULAI BRAIMAH
+233208282575 / +233550558008
afusb55@gmail.com

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