Gender and Poverty

United Nations Development Programme

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND POVERTY ELIMINATION DIVISION

WP 5 GENDER AND POVERTY*
Nilüfer Cagatay
May 1998

WORKING PAPER SERIES

*The responsibility for opinions in these articles, studies and other contributions in this series rests solely with their authors, and publication does not constitute an endorsement by the United Nations Development Programme or the institutions of the United Nations system.

Table Of Contents
Introduction I. II. Women And Poverty: Are Women Poorer? From Women and Poverty to Gender and Poverty A. Engendering Poverty Analysis B. New Conceptualizations of Poverty C. From Consumption/Income Poverty to Human Poverty D. Are Women Poorer?: Revisiting the Question from a Human Poverty Perspective E. Assessing Gender Differences in Poverty: Quantitative versus Qualitative Approaches F. Do Gender Inequalities Increase Overall Poverty? III. What Is To Be Done? What Is Being Done?

A. Gender Mainstreaming at UNDP B. Engendering Anti-Poverty Projects and Programmes

Figures Figure 1: A Pyramid of Poverty Concepts Boxes Box 1: Chile: Targeting Female Headship for Combating Poverty Box 2: Gender and Poverty in Guinea: Human Poverty versus Consumption Poverty and Participatory Approach to Poverty Assessment Box 3: South Asia Poverty Alleviation Program (SAPAP): The Case of India Social Mobilization through Self-Help Groups

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“The causes and outcomes of poverty are heavily engendered and yet traditional conceptualizations consistently fail to delineate poverty’s gender dimension, resulting in policies and programmes which fail to improve the lives of poor women and their families.” Lourdes Beneria and Savitri Bisnath (1997) Introduction The relationship between gender and poverty is a complex and controversial topic that is now being debated more than ever before. Although much policymaking has been informed by the idea of feminization of poverty, the precise nature of the nexus between gender and poverty needs to

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