IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/soceco/v45y2013icp132-137.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Are female-headed households typically poorer than male-headed households in Nigeria?

Author

Listed:
  • Oginni, Ayodeji
  • Ahonsi, Babatunde
  • Ukwuije, Francis

Abstract

The first Millennium Development Goal (MDG) seeks to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger by year 2015. Targeting interventions to achieve this goal is important because institutions have limited resources and would thus require to know how best to deploy these resources to combat poverty. The relationship between gender and poverty may indicate a targeting strategy for poverty reduction. However, empirical evidences are quite equivocal. This study therefore sought to determine if FHHs are poorer than MHHs in Nigeria using wealth index as a poverty measure. We analysed the household data from the last Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (2008 NDHS) which is a nationally representative survey of 34,070 households in the country. Using binary logistic regression for our multivariate analysis, we found FHHs less likely to be poor than MHHs contrary to the claim in the 2008 NDHS Report. We therefore suggest that without neglecting FHHs, poverty-reduction interventions should be focussed more on MHHs which are more predominant in the country in order to reach more of the poor in the country.

Suggested Citation

  • Oginni, Ayodeji & Ahonsi, Babatunde & Ukwuije, Francis, 2013. "Are female-headed households typically poorer than male-headed households in Nigeria?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 132-137.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:soceco:v:45:y:2013:i:c:p:132-137
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socec.2013.04.010
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053535713000784
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socec.2013.04.010?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Christiana E. E. Okojie, 2002. "Gender and Education as Determinants of Household Poverty in Nigeria," WIDER Working Paper Series DP2002-37, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    2. Meenakshi, J. V. & Ray, Ranjan, 2002. "Impact of household size and family composition on poverty in rural India," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 539-559, October.
    3. David E. Sahn & David Stifel, 2003. "Exploring Alternative Measures of Welfare in the Absence of Expenditure Data," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 49(4), pages 463-489, December.
    4. Appleton, Simon, 1996. "Women-headed households and household welfare: An empirical deconstruction for Uganda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(12), pages 1811-1827, December.
    5. Peterman, A., 2010. "A review of empirical evidence on gender differences in nonland agricultural inputs, technology, and services in developing countries," IWMI Working Papers H043605, International Water Management Institute.
    6. Peterman, Amber & Behrman, Julia & Quisumbing, Agnes, 2010. "A review of empirical evidence on gender differences in nonland agricultural inputs, technology, and services in developing countries," IFPRI discussion papers 975, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    7. Barros, Ricardo & Fox, Louise & Mendonca, Rosane, 1997. "Female-Headed Households, Poverty, and the Welfare of Children in Urban Brazil," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 45(2), pages 231-257, January.
    8. Fuwa, Nobuhiko, 2000. "The Poverty and Heterogeneity Among Female-Headed Households Revisited: The Case of Panama," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(8), pages 1515-1542, August.
    9. Uwaifo Oyelere, Ruth, 2007. "Within and Between Gender Disparities in Income and Education Benefits from Democracy," IZA Discussion Papers 3221, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Haddad, Lawrence & Pena, Christine, 2001. "Are women overrepresented among the poor? An analysis of poverty in 10 developing countries," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 225-269, October.
    11. Sara Horrell & Pramila Krishnan, 2007. "Poverty and productivity in female-headed households in Zimbabwe," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(8), pages 1351-1380.
    12. Dreze, Jean & Srinivasan, P. V., 1997. "Widowhood and poverty in rural India: Some inferences from household survey data," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 217-234, December.
    13. Buvinic, Mayra & Gupta, Geeta Rao, 1997. "Female-Headed Households and Female-Maintained Families: Are They Worth Targeting to Reduce Poverty in Developing Countries?," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 45(2), pages 259-280, January.
    14. Seebens, Holger, 2011. "Intra-household bargaining, gender roles in agriculture and how to promote welfare enhancing changes," ESA Working Papers 289011, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Agricultural Development Economics Division (ESA).
    15. Takane, Tsutomu, 2007. "Diversities and Disparities among Female-Headed Households in Rural Malawi," IDE Discussion Papers 124, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    16. Jonathan Haughton & Shahidur R. Khandker, 2009. "Handbook on Poverty and Inequality," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 11985, December.
    17. Smajic Senada & Ermacora Sergio, 2007. "Poverty amongst Female-headed Households in Bosnia and Herzegovina: an empirical analysis," South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 2(1), pages 69-88, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Abayomi Samuel Oyekale & Thonaeng Charity Maselwa, 2018. "Maternal Education, Fertility, and Child Survival in Comoros," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-17, December.
    2. Quang Tran, Tuyen & Doan, Tinh & Vu, Huong & Nguyen, Hien, 2018. "The Impact of Public Governance on Household Income: A Quantile Panel Analysis," MPRA Paper 90415, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 08 Mar 2018.
    3. Yawo A. Noglo & Komivi Afawubo, 2017. "2011-2015: an illustration based on the decomposition of the Gini coefficient using the Shapley value approach," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 37(4), pages 2602-2615.
    4. François-Charles Wolff, 2020. "The intergenerational transmission of risk attitudes: Evidence from Burkina Faso," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 181-206, March.
    5. William D. Lastrapes & Ramaprasad Rajaram, 2016. "Gender, caste and poverty in India: evidence from the National Family Health Survey," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 6(2), pages 153-171, August.
    6. Sabina Alkire & Yingfeng Fang, 2019. "Dynamics of Multidimensional Poverty and Uni-dimensional Income Poverty: An Evidence of Stability Analysis from China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 142(1), pages 25-64, February.
    7. Olumide Hassan & Stephen Morse & Matthew Leach, 2020. "The Energy Lock-In Effect of Solar Home Systems: A Case Study in Rural Nigeria," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-24, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dassanayake, Wijaya & Luckert, Martin K. & Mohapatra, Sandeep, 2015. "Heterogeneity of household structures and income: Evidence from Zimbabwe and South Africa," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 668-692.
    2. William D. Lastrapes & Ramaprasad Rajaram, 2016. "Gender, caste and poverty in India: evidence from the National Family Health Survey," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 6(2), pages 153-171, August.
    3. Michael Rogan, 2012. "Poverty and headship in post-apartheid South Africa, 1997-2008," Working Papers 288, Economic Research Southern Africa.
    4. Wineman, Ayala, 2017. "Women′S Welfare And Livelihoods Outside Of Marriage: Evidence From Rural Tanzania," Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy Research Papers 261671, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics, Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security (FSP).
    5. Michael Rogan, 2013. "Poverty and Headship in Post-apartheid South Africa, 1997–2006," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 113(1), pages 491-511, August.
    6. Priyanka Julka & Sukanya Das, 2015. "Female Headed Households and Poverty: Analysis using Household level data," Working Papers 2015-133, Madras School of Economics,Chennai,India.
    7. van de Walle, Dominique, 2011. "Lasting welfare effects of widowhood in a poor country," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5734, The World Bank.
    8. Annamaria Milazzo & Dominique Walle, 2017. "Women Left Behind? Poverty and Headship in Africa," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(3), pages 1119-1145, June.
    9. Mallick, Debdulal & Rafi, Mohammad, 2010. "Are Female-Headed Households More Food Insecure? Evidence from Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 593-605, April.
    10. Ayala Wineman, 2019. "Women’s welfare and livelihoods outside of marriage: evidence from rural Tanzania," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 993-1024, September.
    11. Hanmer,Lucia C. & Rubiano Matulevich,Eliana Carolina & Santamaria,Julieth, 2021. "Differences in Household Composition : Hidden Dimensions of Poverty and Displacement in Somalia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9818, The World Bank.
    12. van de Walle, Dominique, 2013. "Lasting Welfare Effects of Widowhood in Mali," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 1-19.
    13. Marenya, Paswel & Kassie, Menale & Jaleta, Moti & Rahut, Dil Bahadur, 2015. "Does gender of the household head explain smallholder farmers' maize market positions? Evidence from Ethiopia," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 212229, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    14. Mduduzi Biyase & Talent Zwane, 2018. "An Empirical Analysis Of The Determinants Of Poverty And Household Welfare In South Africa," Journal of Developing Areas, Tennessee State University, College of Business, vol. 52(1), pages 115-130, January-M.
    15. Peterman, Amber & Quisumbing, Agnes & Behrman, Julia & Nkonya, Ephraim, 2010. "Understanding gender differences in agricultural productivity in Uganda and Nigeria," IFPRI discussion papers 1003, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    16. Kassie, Menale & Ndiritu, Simon Wagura & Stage, Jesper, 2014. "What Determines Gender Inequality in Household Food Security in Kenya? Application of Exogenous Switching Treatment Regression," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 153-171.
    17. Fuwa, Nobuhiko, 2000. "The Poverty and Heterogeneity Among Female-Headed Households Revisited: The Case of Panama," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(8), pages 1515-1542, August.
    18. Andre Croppenstedt & Markus Goldstein & Nina Rosas, 2013. "Gender and Agriculture: Inefficiencies, Segregation, and Low Productivity Traps," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 28(1), pages 79-109, February.
    19. Medeiros, Marcelo & Costa, Joana, 2008. "Is There a Feminization of Poverty in Latin America?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 115-127, January.
    20. Joshi, Shareen, 2004. "Female Household-Headship in Rural Bangladesh: Incidence, Determinants and Impact on Children's Schooling," Center Discussion Papers 28424, Yale University, Economic Growth Center.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:soceco:v:45:y:2013:i:c:p:132-137. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620175 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.