The census of Kenscoff counts more wives than husbands

The 1950 census of the commune of Kenscoff recorded 1,100 married men and 1,111 married women. It counted 237 widows against 74 widowers, 76 separated women against 33 separated men, and eight divorced women against four divorced men. Part of the gap is explained by movement. Men from the mountains who went looking for work in Port-au-Prince left their wives and children behind. When a couple parted, the woman usually went back to her parents, or, if the break came later in life, stayed in the house with the children while the man moved off to another community or to town. The widow figure is not what it appears to be. Many women counted as widows had already taken another partner, and registered as widows because in law they still were, and because the title carried more standing than the alternative. The four people in the bourg listed as divorced were all strangers to the commune.