Feminization of poverty: an analysis of multidimensional poverty among rural women in China

Few studies from an individual perspective have analyzed the multidimensional poverty of rural women in China. Therefore, based on the CFPS data from 2010 to 2020 and the Alkire-Foster approach, this study built a six-dimensional system to portray the status of multidimensional poverty among rural women. The overall comparisons found that rural women were more likely to be multidimensional poor than other subgroups. And the results of rural women showed significant demographic and spatio-temporal differences. That is, older rural women were more deprived than younger rural women. Rural women with spouses or confidence were less deprived than those without spouses or confidence, respectively. From the spatial perspective, the censored headcount ratios of rural women in descending order were Western Region, Central Region and Eastern Region. From the temporal perspective, the risk of rural women’s multidimensional poverty decreased significantly from 2010 to 2020. The importance of non-material indicators was gradually becoming prominent, including education, health and subjective wellbeing. The conclusions can contribute to the development of policies, even if some limitations need to be further improved.