Feminist approaches to poverty and gender inequality

Women and girls tend to have higher poverty rates than men and boys, using traditional income and consumption-based measures. Among adults, single mothers and women in marginalized racial, ethnic, or religious groups are particularly vulnerable to poverty. But as Cecile Jackson (1998, p. 69) claims, “The point is not that women are poor but that poverty is gendered.” This chapter provides a guide to the conceptual contributions of feminist analysis to the study and measurement of poverty and gender inequality with a focus on the role of time spent in unpaid work and social reproduction, the gendered division of paid work, redefinition of what comprises economic well-being, the implications of family structure and how resources are shared within households, and the gendered structure of social welfare regimes. Using these contributions, the chapter discusses feminist debates around the “feminization of poverty” and cash transfers, and points to future research directions.