Gender Dimension on the Living Conditions of Poor Household Heads in Sefene-Selam Sub-City, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

Men and women in general, male house heads and female house heads in particular experience poverty in different ways and use different mechanisms to overcome it. This is mainly because of the different roles they play in their community, which exposes them to different constraints, opportunities, and needs. Therefore, men and women experience poverty differently. Therefore, the very purpose of this study was to assess the gender dimension in the living condition of poor female and male-headed households in Sefen-Selam Sub-city, Bahir Dar. To meet these objectives, the study used a Sequential Explanatory Mixed Method design. Survey questionnaires and Semi-structured interviews were used to gather data. Descriptive and thematic analysis was used for quantitative and qualitative data analysis. The analysis of the study was based on 175 households, of which 129 were female-headed and 46 male-headed households. Accordingly, the monetary and non-monetary poverty indicators pointed out the poor living condition of the study population in general. Nevertheless, problems were found to be more severe among households headed by women. Therefore, the national, regional, and local poverty reduction programs and strategies should give special attention to the poor in general and the female-headed families in particular for its success.