
According to some estimates, women represent
70 percent of the world’s poor
“I find good clean cardboard and I always carry
my own sleeping bag. The most important thing
is to have blankets. We learn to carry those
blankets. We learn to because this is our home.”
-Nancy, Canada.

Women Feed the world (http://thp.org.mx/video/8.html )

Worldwide:

Developing Countries:

Arab States:

South Africa:
◦
◦
◦
◦
Perform 66% of the work
Produce 50% of the food
Earn 10% of income
Own 1% of property
◦ Provide 70% of agricultural labour
◦ Produce more than 90% of the food
◦ Nowhere represented in budget deliberations
◦ Only 28% of women participate in the workforce
◦ The average distance to the moon is 394,400 km, South
African women together walk the equivalent of a trip to the
moon and back 16 times a day to supply their households
with water

“The feminization of poverty is a change in
the levels of poverty biased against women or
female headed households. More specifically,
it is an increase in the difference in the levels
of poverty among women and men or among
female versus male and couple headed
households.”


Poverty impacts women
more severely than it
does men
What are the reasons for
this?
Growth of FemaleHeaded Households



Divorces, separations
Children born to single
mothers
Higher male mortality
Intra-Household
Inequalities


Patriarchal family
situation
Gender division of
labour and
consumption within
the household (unpaid
work)
Inequality in Access to
Public Services
 Barriers to education
for girls
 Lack of specific health
attention
Inequality to Social
Protection
 Lower access to
pensions and social
assistance
 Inequality in benefit
values in targeted
policies
Labour Market
Inequalities
 Occupational
segregation
 Intra-career mobility
 Wage discrimination
 Duration of work shifts
Legal Restraints in Public
Life
 Property rights
 Discrimination in the
judiciary system
 Constraints in
community and
political life
http://www.youtube
.com/watch?v=GYp
uXpbf0jg&feature=r
elated
a)
b)
African American
Asian
c)
d)
White
Hispanic
a)
b)
c)
d)
Married women with no dependent children
Single women with no dependent children
Married women with dependent children
Single women with dependent children
a)
b)
0-24
25-54
c)
d)
55-74
75+
Women
a) $17 865
b) $27 562
c) $35 102
d) $43 947
Men
a) $20
b) $26
c) $39
d) $45
c) $35 102
d) $45 113
655
435
734
113

Knowing the causes of the Feminization of
Poverty, what do YOU think can be done to
help address women and poverty?
“The best policy solutions to address women’s poverty must
combine a range of decent employment opportunities with a
network of social services that support healthy families, such as
quality health care, child care, and housing support. Policy
objectives must also recognize the multiple barriers to economic
security women face based on their race, ethnicity, immigration
status, sexuality, physical ability, and health status. These
approaches must promote the equal social and economic status
of all women by expanding their opportunities to balance work
and family life.”

Largest worldwide poverty reduction
campaign



Women have multiple roles. At any given time
they can be mothers, leaders, students, decisionmakers, farmers, workers, voters and much more
In each of these roles, the ability to be educated
and healthy, to have voice and influence, and to
enjoy opportunities and choices are critical to the
attainment of the Goals.
Gender equality and women’s empowerment are
central to achieving the MDGs because without
these capabilities and opportunities, women are
less able to reach their full potential, live a life of
dignity, and be productive citizens.
“Gender equality helps accelerate achievement of each goal.
In addition, there is solid evidence that progress in gender
equality in one goal often contributes simultaneously towards
progress on a number of other development goals. For
example, gender equality in education also makes significant
contributions to a nation’s economic growth and poverty
reduction as well as to reduced malnutrition, fertility, and
child mortality”


Explain how gender equality and women’s
empowerment is essential for the worldwide community
to achieve each millennium development goal
Use the following website to get your information:
http://www.unifem.org/attachments/products/MDGsAndGenderEquality_1_
MakingChangeHappen.pdf