The Feminization of Poverty - A WOW! e-Brief

 

WOMEN AND POVERTY: AN OVERVIEW

 

Globally, more than 1.5 billion people, about one-fifth of the world’s population, survive on less than one dollar per day, and the majority of these people are women. The gap between women and men living in poverty over the past few decades has widened and continues to do so, creating an effect known as the “feminization of poverty.” 

Factors that contribute to this phenomenon are both economic and social, ranging from an earnings gap between the sexes to unequal access to education to the inability to control reproductive functions. Women’s poverty results in widespread violations of their human rights. Women often lack safe housing, proper nutrition, clean water and access to health care. Poverty especially affects women’s health because their health problems are deemed less important than other family priorities and both women and girls face the possibility of being sold into prostitution for financial reasons.

Rural poverty in developing nations affects women and children more so than it affects men. Rural poverty accounts for more than 60 percent of poverty worldwide, with almost 90 percent of the rural population in countries like Bangladesh or in sub-Saharan Africa afflicted by poverty. In almost all countries, with the exception of Latin American nations, the conditions of poverty faced by rural people are far greater than those experienced in urban regions.

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According to a United Nations report, the number of rural women living in poverty has increased almost 50 percent within the past two decades, the equivalent to 565 million women. Men’s poverty, on the other hand, has only increased by less than half as much. Male migration is a strong contributing cause for these statistics, since in economic crises large numbers of men are moving to cities seeking employment. Though many times they intend to find paid work and send money home, the outcome is often that women are abandoned back home, or the man isn’t able to earn enough to support both his and his wife’s households.

Though in urban areas factors including the denial of equal employment opportunities, the earnings gap and globalization of the world economy provoke female poverty, rural factors vary and the loss of land rights is one of the top causes. The destruction of local markets due to food aid is a serious issue – an approach that often depresses local prices and drives local farmers out of business.

In every community and society, women provide critical economic support to their families. This happens through agricultural work or by earning wages in the informal or formal sectors. The majority of women in developing countries are employed in the agricultural sector of the economy.

To illustrate, in Southeast Asia, more than 70 percent of women work in agriculture, yet they do not actually own the land they work. When women work for wages, they are typically paid less than men are. Women usually earn 50 to 70 percent of men’s wages yet when both women’s paid and unpaid labor, such as child-rearing and household duties, are taken into account their economic contribution to the family is greater than that of men. In urban areas, women who chose wage work are often clustered in low-paying, low skill jobs, such as garment manufacturing. These low-paying jobs result in women’s average per capita income being much lower than that of men, contributing to the creation of feminized poverty.

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In addition to disparate income, women bear disproportionately the negative results of globalization. As a country’s economy becomes increasingly tied to global markets, public spending and social programs often experience drastic cuts in funding, which adds further strains to families living in poverty, especially on women who bear this added burden. 

 

Many social factors have contributed to the development of feminized poverty over the past few decades. As stated in the Beijing Platform for Action, which addresses the need to create greater gender equality and opportunities for women, socially ascribed gender roles, women’s limited access to power, education, reproductive concerns and the increasing number of female-headed households add to the high incidence of poverty among women.

 

Women in developing regions often face unequal access to resources and opportunities. For example, in many areas, land inheritance laws prevent women from owning land. Women often have little or no say over the distribution of household resources. Studies have shown that when women contribute to their family’s income they have more decision-making power over household assets and their income more often goes towards clothing, food and caring for children.

 

Women’s limited access to power allows governments in developing nations to ignore the unique needs of women. In Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, women produce 90 percent of food but are not represented in budget deliberations, according to the World Economic Forum. Two-thirds of the world’s children that do not have access to primary education are girls, and 75 percent of the world’s 876 million illiterate adults are women.

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Inadequate access to female reproductive health care limits female productivity. Use of family planning has been shown to increase a woman’s employment opportunities because they have time to seek the training and education needed for better employment. In both developed and developing countries, the rate of female-headed households has been increasing. These households are more susceptible to unemployment and reductions in social and welfare government spending.

 

The key to reducing women’s poverty is to address all the issues that affect women and girls, both the economic and social. It is necessary to look at ways of alleviating poverty that address the immediate monetary concerns as well as the lower social status of women. Programs that provide a more equitable distribution of land, training, education, employment services and reproductive health care have a greater chance for success. Effective long-term poverty reduction strategies should ultimately address the need to increase gender equality and to empower women.

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Photo credits for this page (from top to bottom):

1. Photo by Laxmi Madras

2. Photo by Natalie Elwell/World Neighbors

3. Photo by World Neighbors

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A WOW! e-Brief

Work of Women @ World Neighbors

December 2007

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