Why single women in Egypt find it hard to rent a flat

WHEN LAYLA (not her real name), an Egyptian woman, got divorced in her mid-30s, her parents assumed she would move back home. But she wanted to share with female flatmates. “What are we, Americans?” her mother wailed. No woman in her family had ever lived on her own, widows included, or with independent female friends. For an unmarried woman in Egypt, fleeing the nest can be tricky. It helps if she is wily, or rich, or lives in a neighbourhood that caters to foreigners.Persuading the family is usually the first hurdle. Arguing simply for freedom would be valiant but often unwise. Better to cite the bad traffic as your reason. That helped convince Layla’s mother, because they both tend to be car sick. Having her own flat would shorten her commute.