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Are Poor Individuals Mainly Found in Poor Households? Evidence using Nutrition Data for Africa

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  • Caitlin S. Brown
  • Martin Ravallion
  • Dominique van de Walle

Abstract

Antipoverty policies assume that targeting poor households suffices in reaching poor individuals. We question this assumption. Our comprehensive assessment for sub-Saharan Africa reveals that undernourished women and children are spread widely across the household wealth and consumption distributions. Roughly three-quarters of underweight women and undernourished children are not found in the poorest 20% of households, and around half are not found in the poorest 40%. Countries with higher undernutrition tend to have higher shares of undernourished individuals in non-poor households. The results are consistent with intra-household inequality but other factors also appear to be at work including common health risks.

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  • Caitlin S. Brown & Martin Ravallion & Dominique van de Walle, 2017. "Are Poor Individuals Mainly Found in Poor Households? Evidence using Nutrition Data for Africa," NBER Working Papers 24047, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:24047
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    5. Nicolas Berman & Lorenzo Rotunno & Roberta Ziparo, 2020. "Sweet child of mine: Parental income, child health and inequality," AMSE Working Papers 2005, Aix-Marseille School of Economics, France, revised Dec 2022.
    6. Ambel,Alemayehu A. & Belete,Getachew Yirga & Fiala,Oliver, 2023. "Children and the Fiscal Space in Ethiopia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10452, The World Bank.
    7. Bevis, Leah E.M. & Naschold, Felix & Rao, Tanvi, 2019. "An unequal burden: Intra-household dimensions of seasonal health in Tanzania," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    8. Dizon,Felipe Jr Fadullon & Josephson,Anna Leigh & Wang,Zetianyu, 2022. "Intra-Household Inequality in Food Consumption and Diets in the Philippines," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10170, The World Bank.
    9. Freude, Boipelo & Henning, Christian H. C. A., 2019. "Is women's undernutrition synonymous with household food insufficiency? Evidence from Northern Ghana," Working Papers of Agricultural Policy WP2019-08, University of Kiel, Department of Agricultural Economics, Chair of Agricultural Policy.
    10. Berman, Nicolas & Rotunno, Lorenzo & Ziparo, Roberta, 2020. "Sweet child of mine: Income, health and inequality," CEPR Discussion Papers 14444, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    11. Maria Sassi, 2020. "Evidence of Between- and Within-Household Child Nutrition Inequality in Malawi: Does the Gender of the Household Head Matter?," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 32(1), pages 28-50, January.
    12. Alemayehu A. Ambel & Getachew Yirga Belete & Oliver Fiala, 2024. "Fiscal Policy and Child Poverty in Ethiopia," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 17(1), pages 221-259, February.
    13. Echeverría, Lucía, 2020. "Modelos colectivos de consumo y distribución intra-hogar. Teoría y aplicaciones," Nülan. Deposited Documents 3832, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales, Centro de Documentación.
    14. Coates, Jennifer & Patenaude, Bryan N. & Rogers, Beatrice Lorge & Roba, Alemzewed Challa & Woldetensay, Yitbarek Kidane & Tilahun, Addisalem Fikre & Spielman, Kathryn L., 2018. "Intra-household nutrient inequity in rural Ethiopia," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 82-94.
    15. Getachew Yirga Belete, 2022. "Children’s multidimensional deprivation, monetary poverty and undernutrition in Ethiopia," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 1087-1118, December.
    16. Schnitzer,Pascale & Stoeffler,Quentin, 2021. "Targeting for Social Safety Nets : Evidence from Nine Programs in the Sahel," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9816, The World Bank.
    17. Lentz, Erin C., 2018. "Complicating narratives of women’s food and nutrition insecurity: Domestic violence in rural Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 271-280.
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    JEL classification:

    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs

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