Gender and Poverty

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If income is insufficient, poor people might turn to crime to supplement their income. A study has shown that most frequent criminal offenders came from the poorest families with the worst housing, and that most female offenders were women with low levels of education, few job skills, no economic resources, living alone in extremely poor conditions, and unable to support themselves.

To conclude, we notice that women represent disproportionate percentages of the world's poor. This is not only due to the consequence of lack of income, but it is also the result of deprivation of capabilities and gender biases present in both societies and governments. Suggestions to solutions to this problem exist but are not fully applied such as establishing a minimum wage that reflects the actual cost of living. Also, ensuring access to job training without heavy financial burdens. Decent, affordable housing should be provided through rehabilitation and new construction. Women should have ensured access to social services, including health care and child care. There should also be tax relief for the poor, not for the rich and many more solutions that might fix the problem partially.

Finally, equality between men and women is more than a matter of justice; it's a fundamental human right. Women with equal rights are better educated, healthier, and have greater access to financial resources, which in turn raises household income. Through this approach, women across the world can be helped to move out of poverty, and along the way, each woman will contribute to the economy and create a more secure future for herself and for her children.

References

Staff infoZine. (2014, April 08). Is the gender gap keeping millions of women in poverty?. Retrieved from http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/58577/

Branham, L., & Olinger, J. (2013, May 02). Introduction to the challenges for achieving gender equality. Retrieved from http://www.globalcitizen.org/Content/Content.aspx?id=058f8fee-01f4-4508-a54d-464ff22a4716

Davies, H., & Joshi, H. (1998). Gender and income inequality in the uk 1968-1990: The feminization of earnings or of poverty?. Journal of the Royal Society. Series A (Statistics in Society), 161(1), 33-61. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.aub.edu.lb/stable/2983553

Quinn, M. K. (2010, May 15). Poverty and women: Consequences and solutions. Retrieved from http://voices.yahoo.com/poverty-women-consequences-solutions-6009072.html

Morris, M. (n.d.). Women and poverty. Retrieved from http://criaw-icref.ca/WomenAndPoverty

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Appendix

Introduction to the challenges for achieving gender equality

The problem: Women make up half of the world's population and yet represent a staggering 70% of the world's poor. For the millions of women living in poverty, their lives are a litany of injustice, discrimination and obstacles that get in the way of achieving their basic needs of good health, safe childbirth, education and employment. Overcoming these inequalities and ensuring that women benefit from development requires that the needs and desires of women are not only taken into account, but be put front and centre.

We live in a world in which women living in poverty face gross inequalities and injustice from birth to death. From poor education to poor nutrition to vulnerable and low pay employment, the sequence of discrimination that a woman may suffer during her entire life is unacceptable but all too common.

What does this look like throughout a woman's life?

As a baby born into poverty, she might be abandoned and left to die, through the practice of female infanticide. Worldwide, there are 32 million 'missing women'. During her childhood, her proper feeding and nutrition may be neglected out of family favouring of male children. As a girl or woman she may be a victim of female genital mutilation and cutting. 100 to 140 million girls and women around the world have undergone genital mutilation, including 6.5 million in Western countries. Embedded in cultural norms, this act is often carried out with the consent of mothers, in conditions that lead to lifelong pain, infection and premature death.

As an adolescent she may be required to have an early marriage and young pregnancy puts girls at risk of maternal deaths. The education of girls has been shown enhance maternal and child nutrition and lower mortality rates, inhibit the spread of fatal diseases like HIV/AIDS, and reduce birth rates. Unfortunately, in many parts of the world, girls do not attend school because of reasons as simple as lack of decent sanitation facilities or the need to spend hours each day collecting water

At child-bearing age, she could die from haemorrhaging during childbirth, one of the most common causes of maternal mortality for anaemic or undernourished pregnant women. Of the 500,000 women who die in childbirth every year, 99% live in developing countries. In other words, in developing countries, a girl or a woman dies every minute in giving birth.

At working age, she does not have the same job opportunities and receives less pay for the same work. Women work two-thirds of the world's working hours, produce half of the world's food, but earn only 10% of the world's income and own less than one percent of the world's property. On average, women earn half of what men earn. Informal employment is a greater source of employment for women than for men. While it can offer life-changing opportunities to earn money, the low pay and lack of social protection makes women vulnerable and open to exploitation. Over her lifetime, she may suffer unimaginable violence and neglect, often in silence. Three million women die each year because of gender-based violence, and four million girls and women a year are sold into prostitution. One woman in five is a victim of rape or attempted rape during her lifetime. Gender-based violence takes more of a toll on women's health than that of traffic accidents and malaria combined.

Is the Gender Gap Keeping Millions of Women in Poverty?

Tuesday, April 08, 2014 :: Staff infoZine

The Gender Wage Gap by Occupation and by Race and Ethnicity, 2013

Washington DC - infoZine - Heidi Hartmann is president of the Institute for Women's Policy