Paper short abstract:

The paper assesses, for the first time, the claim of a feminization of poverty through a new individual-level index of multidimensional poverty (the G-CSPI). The cross-country analysis shows a small process of feminization of poverty since 2000, due to a slow decline in employment poverty for women

Paper long abstract:

It has been often argued that there are significant and increasing gender disparities in poverty, with women experiencing larger deprivations. However, so far, it has been impossible to adequately assess the intensity of the gender disparities in both income and multidimensional poverty, especially for low- and middle-income countries. This is because poverty is measured at household level.

This paper tries to reveal gender disparities in poverty, by adopting a new index of multidimensional poverty, called Global Correlation Sensitive Poverty Index (G-CSPI). The G-CSPI has two fundamental advantages over the existing indices in addressing this question. First, it is an individual measure, as it focuses on adults in the 15-65 age group. Therefore, we can differentiate the individual poverty status of different individuals living in the same household. Second, it focuses on key dimensions for women, in particular education and decent work.

The analysis relies on a total sample of 60 low- and middle-income countries, for which data for multiple years are available. The preliminary analysis reveals no significant gender disparities in poverty in 2000 at the global level. However, since 2000 multidimensional poverty declined slightly more among men than women, indicating a minimal process of feminization of poverty. This was triggered by the decline in employment poverty, which was much slower among women. Given that the (few) existing studies focusing on high-income or upper middle-income countries concluded that there was no evidence for a feminization of poverty, this is a novel finding in the literature.