Increasing incidence and prevalence of poverty among women compared to men, as a result of structural discrimination that affects women’s lives and is reflected in lower salaries, lower pensions, fewer benefits, etc. Show
SourcesEuropean Commission (1998). 100 Words for Equality: A Glossary of Terms on Equality between Women and Men. URI: https://eige.europa.eu/taxonomy/term/1133 The concepts and definitions found in this glossary were published in 2016, and some may be out-of-date. EIGE is currently looking into which terms may need to be updated in the future. Gender inequality is the most common form of inequality across the globe. It is also one of the biggest barriers to ending extreme poverty. Here we look at why women are more likely to be poor and how important it is to place them at the forefront of humanitarian and development interventions. ‘Feminisation of poverty’ is a term that was coined in the 1970s by researcher Diana Pearce, who worked on gender and poverty in the United States. The term gained global status at the Fourth United Nations Conference on Women in 1995 and is now used extensively in the debate on international development and humanitarian aid. It refers to the phenomenon that women and children are disproportionately represented among the world’s poor and are more likely than men to live below the poverty line. The concept is relatively simple, but the reasons for it are complex and many. Table of contentsWhy are women more likely to be poor?Persistent inequalities in all societies mean women and girls are disproportionately affected by poverty and oppression. There are many complex and interconnected issues that perpetuate poverty and are a barrier to gender equality, just some of these are;
However, there are also less tangible causes of inequality– and are a result of everyday gender biases present in societies and governments. Such biases span a multitude of areas, themes and levels of severity; but all result in women and girls being disproportionately affected by poverty and oppression across the world.  Tamaench has participated in Concern’s Graduation Programme, enabling her to earn her own income and build a sustainable livelihood. Photo: Kieran McConville
Drawing water from the well for their daily needs in Niger. Photo: Ollivier Girard Ïzaïna is preparing a meal for the night based on millet. Families eat an average of two meals a day. Photo: Ollivier Girard To put this into context, last year a UN report found that almost 90% of men and women hold some sort of bias against females. The "Gender Social Norms" index analysed biases in areas such as politics and education in 75 countries, covering 80% of the world’s population. Here are a few of the findings:
The study also concluded that there are no countries in the world that have achieved gender equality. How does this manifest itself in the world’s poorest places?The impact of gender inequality is more pronounced in the world’s poorest countries, where many women and girls still do not have access to or control over even the most basic resources and services. They live in fear of gender-based violence (GBV), are denied education and have no say over decisions in their homes. This becomes unmistakably apparent when girls start missing out on opportunities at a young age. Families living in poverty often decide to prioritise education, sending their sons to school instead of their daughters. Moreover, if girls do not have adequate information about their periods or access to menstrual products, safe water and hygiene facilities, they may also have to miss school. Less education means less likelihood of employment, which is further exacerbated by household chores systematically falling on the women and girls, creating longer working hours and even fewer opportunities to earn an income. How can we bring about change?Couple Martin and Mahitese with some of the vegetables and grains they have harvested. Photo: Pamela Tulizo/Concern Strengthening gender equality is one of the most fundamental accelerators of sustainable development. Empowering women is a key driver for ending hunger, poverty and conflict and for building peace and prosperity. Positioning gender at the forefront of programme interventions and understanding the gender continuum challenges inequalities and when applied, creates positive change for women and girls. The gender continuumIntroduced by the Interagency Gender Working Group, the Gender Continuum is a framework that is used to ensure gender equity is successfully integrated into humanitarian and development aid policies and programmes. It helps organisations understand the concept of gender relations (or roles and norms) and how they can impact the results of their work. There are three approaches that integrate gender into interventions; gender exploitative, gender sensitive and gender transformative, which are described in the graphic below. The gender continuum graphic. A gender exploitative approach takes advantage of gender inequalities and stereotypes in pursuit of narrowly focused project outcomes. This is likely to achieve only short-term results and may well exacerbate gender inequality in the long run. Since one of the fundamental principles of development is to “do no harm” then only two approaches remain, gender sensitive and gender transformative. Moving from gender sensitive to gender transformativeGender SensitiveA gender sensitive approach to development and humanitarian aid – means identifying and taking into account the different needs, abilities, and opportunities of girls, boys, women and men. However, while it recognises gender differences and accommodates them in pursuit of achieving our goal of ending extreme poverty, it does not necessarily address root causes or challenge harmful stereotypes or norms. Instead, in order to achieve its goals, it works around, adjusts to, or compensates for gender differences, norms, and inequities – still giving the programme approach value. For example, a programme that aims to provide services or training to women in a context where women are not allowed out of the immediate area (community or village) without the husband’s permission, instead brings services or training to the women. This does not directly address the social gender norms and power dynamics that are affecting women’s participation in the programme activity, but instead, it finds a way around these obstacles to achieve its objective. Gender transformativeThe ultimate aim, however, is to move from 'gender sensitive' to 'gender transformative' in all development and humanitarian work. This means working with communities to transform the root causes of gender inequality and tackle power imbalances at different levels of society. Gender-transformative programmes build in opportunities that challenge existing harmful gender norms and stereotypes to:
For example, implementing programmes that work directly with women on practical needs, such as vocational skills, income generation and budget management, as well as soft skills such as self-esteem or public speaking. At the same time, they work with women, men and traditional or religious leaders to reflect on gender norms that are supportive of joint decision making, of women taking on productive roles and improved communications through couples’ dialogue. Why is this relevant now?Despite some progress, Sustainable Development Goal 5, ‘Achieve full gender equality and empowering all women and girls’ remains unreached. The World Economic Forum (WEF) estimates that at the current rate of progress, global gender equality will not be achieved for another 100 years. Girls are three times more likely than boys to miss out on an education. Globally, 75% of unpaid work is performed by women and one in three women worldwide have experienced some form of gender-based violence. Harta*, Hamila*, Hdidja* and Fadoul* travel to far distances to find water. This is a daily chore and takes hours from their day. Photo: Gavin Douglas As we navigate through a global pandemic, it is worth recognising that gender inequality is also the prime reason that Covid-19 is affecting women and girls in developing countries more than anybody else. Emergencies deepen existing inequalities; women and girls are more likely to take on extra labour in a pandemic, and Covid-19 lockdowns have meant an increase in Gender-Based Violence. These are just some of the reasons, but we refuse to let this pandemic rob 50% of the world’s population of the hard-won gains we have achieved together. Concern believes that women and girls are the primary agents of change in the community and for the last 50 years have placed women’s empowerment at the heart of our humanitarian and development programmes. Every programme Concern implements are gender sensitive and our ultimate aim is to move to gender-transformative in all our humanitarian and development interventions. This means working with communities to develop programmes that transform the root causes of gender inequality at multiple layers of society – from the individual to the institutional and national. We believe we can all be women of change, and by changing one woman’s life we change many more. Sign up to receive thought-provoking emails and invites to events where you will hear from women on the ground at the forefront of creating change. Read moreNews 4 November 2022 COP – where are we now with commitments made?UN Climate Change COPs, or Conference of the Parties’ bring together world leaders, ministers, negotiators, civil society, businesses, international organisations and the media in order to reach an agreement on how to tackle climate change. Last year’s conference was held in the UK and this year’s will be held in Egypt, with 15,000 individuals expected to attend. Each COP brings with it more promises from world leaders, including our own from the UK. But are these promises actually delivered on, or just lip-service? Here, we look at past key commitments from our own government and how well, if at all, they’ve been delivered. 1/3 News 4 November 2022 COP – where are we now with commitments made?UN Climate Change COPs, or Conference of the Parties’ bring together world leaders, ministers, negotiators, civil society, businesses, international organisations and the media in order to reach an agreement on how to tackle climate change. Last year’s conference was held in the UK and this year’s will be held in Egypt, with 15,000 individuals expected to attend. Each COP brings with it more promises from world leaders, including our own from the UK. But are these promises actually delivered on, or just lip-service? Here, we look at past key commitments from our own government and how well, if at all, they’ve been delivered. Other ways to helpWhat is the main reason for the feminization of poverty?The feminization of poverty is not only a consequence of lack of income, but is also the result of the deprivation of opportunities and gender biases present in both societies and governments. Women's increasing share of poverty is related to the rising incidence of lone mother households.
Who came up with the term feminization of poverty?The coining of the term “feminization of poverty” is widely attributed to Diana Pearce (1978), who, on the basis of statistical analysis for the United States between the 1950s and 1970s, reported a trend towards increased concentration of income poverty among women, and especially among Afro-American female-headed ...
How is the feminization of poverty revealed?in the sense that women are paid less than men and need financial support for raising children. Because women are paid less than men, divorce has contributed to what is called the "feminization of poverty." Women rely heavily on child support to help maintain their families.
What is the meaning of feminisation?/ˌfemɪnɪˈzeɪʃən/ a process in which more and more women become involved in an activity where there are traditionally more men: The partial feminisation of the workplace has put work at the heart of modern relationships.
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