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Gender, Poverty and the Intra-household Distribution of Resources

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  • Findlay, Ronald
  • Wright, Robert E

Abstract

Numerous authors have pointed out the importance of taking into consideration the intra-household distribution of resources in the analysis of poverty. Most empirical studies of poverty, however, assume an equal sharing of resources between all household members. There is a growing body of research indicating that this assumption is not realistic. Nevertheless, only limited attention has been directed towards addressing how sharing assumptions can be incorporated into poverty measurement. This paper proposes a method that allows for an evaluation of how the unequal sharing of resources between male and female adults and between adults and children affects the incidence and intensity of poverty. The method is consistent with Sen's axiomatic approach to poverty measurement and is based upon an aggregate poverty index that is additively decomposable with population share weights. These measures are calculated for all households and for households consisting only of couples with children. Data from two countries participating in the Luxembourg Income Study -- Italy and the United States -- are used to illustrate the importance of paying attention to the intra-household distribution when one is examining the relationship between gender and poverty. These countries were chosen as they have, under the equal-sharing assumption, very different gender distributions of poverty.

Suggested Citation

  • Findlay, Ronald & Wright, Robert E, 1994. "Gender, Poverty and the Intra-household Distribution of Resources," CEPR Discussion Papers 913, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:913
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    Cited by:

    1. Sunil Kumar & Renuka Mahadevan, 2008. "Construction of An Adult Equivalence Index to Measure Intra-household Inequality and Poverty: Case Study," Discussion Papers Series 363, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    2. Markus J ntti & Janet Gornick, 2011. "Child Poverty in Comparative Perspective: Assessing the Role of Family Structure and Parental Education and Employment," LIS Working papers 570, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    3. Gesiarz, Filip & De Neve, Jan-Emmanuel C J M & Sharot, Tali, 2019. "The motivational cost of inequality: pay gaps reduce the willingness to pursue rewards," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 103451, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Marcelo Medeiros & Joana Simões Costa, 2005. "Poverty Among Women In Latin America: Feminization Or Over-Representation?," Anais do XXXIII Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 33rd Brazilian Economics Meeting] 150, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].
    5. Olga Alonso-Villar & Coral del Río, 2024. "Poverty among same-sex couple families in the United States: Is there a premium for married couples?," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 22(2), pages 495-517, June.
    6. Luca Piccoli, 2023. "Female poverty and intrahousehold inequality in transition economies," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 353-353, February.
    7. Doorley, Karina, 2018. "Taxation, Work and Gender Equality in Ireland," IZA Discussion Papers 11495, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Gornick, Janet C. & Jäntti, Markus, 2012. "Child poverty in cross-national perspective: Lessons from the Luxembourg Income Study," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 558-568.
    9. Markus J ntti & Janet Gornick, 2009. "Child Poverty in Upper-Income Countries: Lessons from the Luxembourg Income Study," LIS Working papers 509, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    10. Gillian Hewitson, 2001. "A Survey of Feminist Economics," Working Papers 2001.01, School of Economics, La Trobe University.
    11. Aziz, Omar & Gemmell, Norman & Laws, Athene, 2013. "The Distribution of Income and Fiscal Incidence by Age and Gender: Some Evidence from New Zealand," Working Paper Series 18785, Victoria University of Wellington, Chair in Public Finance.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gender; Poverty; Unequal Sharing;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty

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