Effect of The Socio-Economic Characteristics of Rural Women on Their Poverty Status in Giwa Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria

This study examined the effect of the socio-economic characteristics of rural women on their poverty status in Giwa Local Government Area of Kaduna State. The specific objectives of the study were to: identify the manifestations of poverty among the rural women, determine the level of economic poverty among the rural women and examine the effect of the socio-economic characteristics of the rural women on their poverty status. Respondents were chosen from four different wards, namely; Yakawada, kakangi, Galadimawa and Kidandan. Data were collected with the aid of structured questionnaire and analysed by the use of descriptive statistics, multiple regression analysis and Foster-Green and Thorbecke model of poverty measures. The study revealed that majority of the respondents were within the active age group of 31-40 years, majorly household heads with average household size of 15. Most women lacked formal education, owned an average of five (5) different economic assets and had an average of two(2) income sources. Physiological manifestation of poverty among the women included lack of income source, lack of asset and low level of educational attainment. A poverty line of N1,406.20 per month per adult equivalent was gotten. The head count ratio was 0.34 which implied that 34% of the sampled population live with a consumption per capita below the poverty line, while the severity of poverty ratio was 0.13 which implied that 13% of the population were the core poor. Age, marital status, literacy level, diversification of income and average annual income were statistically significant in their effect on the poverty level among the women while household size, ownership of asset and average annual income were not significant in their effect on the poverty level. The study recommended that policies should be fine-tuned to give special preferences to rural women especially on matters of empowerment.