Gender and poverty: what we know, don’t know, and need to know for Agenda 2030

Abstract

Drawing on historical debates on gender, poverty, and the 'feminisation of poverty' this paper reflects on current evidence, methods and analysis of gendered poverty. It focuses on initiatives by UN Women, including the Progress of the World's Women 2015-16, which represents one of the most concerted attempts by an international agency to reflect on what we know about the contemporary state of women's poverty in various parts of the developing and transitional world. Our analysis of the data compiled by UN Women raises questions about what might account for the overrepresentation of women among the poor in official accounts of poverty, and how this is plausibly changing (or not) over time. The paper highlights that analysis of what is measured and how needs to be understood in relation to who is the focus of measurement. The lack of available data which is fit for purpose questions the extent to which gender poverty differences are 'real' or statistical. There is a continued reliance on comparing female with male headed households, and the move by UN Women to adopt the notion of Female Only Households reflects available data driving conceptual understandings of women's poverty, rather than conceptual advances driving the search for better data. Wider UN processes highlight that while sensitivity to differences among women and their subjectivities are paramount in understanding the multiple processes accounting for gender bias in poverty burdens, they are still accorded little priority. It is recognised that to monitor advances in Agenda 2030 will require more and better statistics. Our review suggests we know little about how poverty is experienced by women and men and that we are still far from having a set of tools able to adequately measure and monitor gendered poverty.

Multi-Dimensional Poverty Among Adults in Central America and Gender Differences in the Three I’s of Poverty: Applying Inequality Sensitive Poverty Measures With Ordinal Variables

“…Such an assumption is likely to underestimate female deprivation levels and, as a consequence, gender gaps (see, e.g., Bradshaw et al, 2017b).…”

Do Endowments Matter? Exploring The Gender Dimensions Of Poverty In Egypt

“…There is no consensus on the existence of “feminization of poverty,” however (Chant, ; Duflo, ; Klasen et al, ; Bradshaw et al, ). Out of 65 studies covering Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Buvinic and Gupta () found that in 38 of these studies FHH were overrepresented among the poor, while 15 others found that their poverty was associated with certain characteristics of the female heads, or for some, but not all poverty indicators.…”

“…Another important distinction that is particularly relevant in studying the gender dimensions of poverty, is the “route” by which the female became the household head: whether through widowhood or by choice (see Beegle et al, , Bradhsaw et al, , Klasen et al, , Quisumbing, et al, , among others, for a discussion) . Arguably, a female who seeks divorce (or to stay single) might have chosen to do so because she has strong prospects for supporting herself (and her family) on her own, in terms of higher personal income, better social status or a family support system that would allow her to enjoy an at least comparative standard of living after divorce.…”

Women Empowerment in Household Economic Development: Lessons From Poverty Reduction for Ethnic Minorities in Vietnam

“…External factors can either change or play as a catalyst in the decision-making process, and individuals involved in the process would decide at their discretion how they can make a difference in society (Sen, 1998). Women empowerment and household economic development are closely linked to reduce gender inequalities and empower women to benefit from development (Duflo, 2012;Bradshaw, Chant, & Linneker, 2003). As empowered, rural women can access family labor, control resources, access leadership positions or communicate with others outside the family, actively manage savings and credit, and their incomes are improved (Galab & Rao, 2003).…”