Poverty & Concept of

‘Feminisation of Poverty’-
Poverty & Human Capabilities

By Dr. Vibhuti Patel, Director, PGSR

Head, University Department of Economics
SNDT Women’s University, New Marine Lines, ,
Mumbai-400020
Phone-26770227®, 22052970 (O)
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Mobile-9321040048 Email-vibhuti.np@gmail.com
 Poverty
• The majority of the 1.5 billion people
living on 1 dollar a day or less.
Reasons- Unemployment, underemployment
War, Conflict
non-rewarding work
Public policies-SAP
prejudices against minorities
casteism, racism
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“The Feminization of Poverty"
• The gap between women and men
caught in the cycle of poverty has
continued to widen in the past decade.
Worldwide, women earn on average
slightly more than 50 per cent of what
men earn.

• Female Headed Households-the

poorest of the poor
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 Consequences on women
• denied access to critical resources such as credit, land
and inheritance.
• Their labour goes unrewarded and unrecognized.
• Their health care and nutritional needs are not given
priority,
• they lack sufficient access to education and support
services,
• and their participation in decision-making at home and in
the community are minimal.
• Caught in the cycle of poverty, women lack access to
resources and services to change their situation.
• Insecure housing and threat of displacement
• Prone to violence-domestic and societal

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 Multifaceted Tragedies
• Rapid pace of globalization has brought massive uncertainties in
women’s lives. Multi-faced tragedies due to
• mercerization of poor economies and commercialization of human
relations,
• commodification of women’s bodies especially in sexual trafficking,
• advertisements and beauty-contests promoted by the Trans-national
corporations (TNCs) and Multi-national Corporations (MNCs),
• starvation deaths in the rural areas,
• havoc played by onslaught of new reproductive technologies, of both
pro and anti-natalist varieties, racist population control policies, sex
selective abortions of female fetuses,
• violating dignity and bodily integrity of women, armed conflicts,
• increasing economic disparity, the feminisation of poverty,
• disasters in the name of mega development projects resulting into
massive displacement of peoples, stressful life leading to increasing
violence against women, - the pandemic of HIV and AIDS,
• persistent racism, casteism, sexism, chauvinism and extremism

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 Gender Implications of
Globalisation
• The negative impact of the globalization
of the world economy is borne
disproportionately by women.
• As the economy becomes increasingly
linked to global markets, it often leads to
a reduction in public spending and
social programmes, pushing the costs
on to the family, where it is most often
the women who shoulder the added
burden.
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 The Asian Scenario
• South Asian (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh,
Sri Lanka, Nepal, Afghanistan), South East
Asia (Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines,
Malaysia) countries, Indochina (Laos,
Kampuchea and Vietnam) and China is
flooded with Sweatshops, ghetto labour
markets and stigmatised migrant workers.
• ASEAN countries have recently discussed
establishment of Special Economic Zones
that would ensure flexibalisation of the
labour force to attract Foreign Direct
Investment (FDI).
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 Gender based market segmentation
• Segmentation begins in the rural areas
where the asset-less poor in the margin
of economy migrate to the cities.
• Dual economy thrives on discrimination based
on gender relations, caste, religion, language,
parent’s education, family occupation,
migration status and age.
• 1. Income differs widely between these
segments.
2. Mobility between them is limited
• Globalization Triangles-cheap labour from rural
areas, manufacturing hub in towns and
financial hub the metropolis
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 Female-headed Households
• In all developing countries, there has
been an increase in the number of
female-headed households.
• Female-headed households that do not
have access to remittances from male
earners are poorer than male-headed
households.
• Female-headed households are more
vulnerable to increased unemployment
and reductions in social and welfare
spending. 9
Poverty & Human Capabilities
• Empowering women is a critical factor in
freeing the millions of people who are caught
in the cycle of poverty and hunger.
• By providing women with access to
economic and educational opportunities, as
well as the autonomy needed to take
advantage of such opportunities, an
important obstacle to poverty eradication
would be overcome.
• The provision of credit, especially micro-
credit, has become a very popular and
successful strategy for poverty eradication.
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 Question development paradigm
• the real aim of development is to improve the quality
of human life.
• process that enables human beings to realize their
potential, build self-confidence and lead lives of
dignity and fulfillment.
• Economic growth is an important component of
development, but it cannot be a goal in itself, nor
can it go on indefinitely.
• Although people differ in the goals that they would
set for development, some are virtually universal.
• These include a long and healthy life, education,
access to the resources needed for a decent
standard of living, political freedom, guaranteed
human rights, and freedom from violence.
Development is real only if it makes our lives better
in all these respects
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Development Alternatives with Women
• The critique of trickle down theory
• Marginalization thesis popularized by the UN as WID
(Women in Development)
• ‘Integration of Women’ Approach known as Women and
Development (WAD)
• Development Alternatives with Women (DAWN) at
Nairobi Conference, 1985
• Gender and Development (GAD)- Women in Decision
Making Process, 1990
• Adoption of CEDAW-Convention on all forms of
Discrimination against Women
• Human Development Index, Gender Empowerment
Measure, 1995
• Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), 2000
• Women Empowerment Policy, GoI, 2001
• Gender Mainstreaming in planning, policy making and
programme Implementation 12
 Women in Decision Making
• an empowered woman is one who has the
agency to formulate strategic choices and to
control resources and decisions that affect
important life outcomes
• Women’s agency to use rights, capabilities,
resources, and place in decision-making
bodies (such as is provided through
leadership opportunities and participation in
political institutions).

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 Women’s Agency
• Globalization has enhanced patriarchal control over women’s
sexuality, fertility and labour by superimposing commercial
values on the conventional values throughout the world.

• Feminist economists can play a crucial role in motivating the

nation-states and the global decision-making bodies to be pro-
active in furthering women’s entitlements in the households,
economy and governance.

• Women’s groups are making global effort to change macro-

policies, programmes of the nation-state and actions at the local
level by the government and non-government bodies.

• In response to imposition of structural adjustment programmes

and stabilization policies at the behest of International Monitory
fund & World Bank, women’s movements across the national
boundaries have been debating various strategies and tactics of
transforming the Neo-liberal Development Paradigm.

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 Ray of Hope
• World Social Forum and Regional Social Fora have provided
democratic platforms for reflections on a just, sustainable &
caring Global Economy.

• These deliberations have convinced us that Another World is

Possible and globalisation also bears the promise and
possibilities of furthering women’s rights and well-being.

• Gender sensitive strategic thinking can address practical and

strategic gender needs of women. For example, more women in
more areas of economic activities can be gainfully and justly
employed. Information technology can enable women throughout
the globe to share strategies, successes and stress-free and safe
life.

• We should not forget that there is North in the South and there is
South in the North. So we must strive for global solidarity and
sisterhood of all women who are oppressed and exploited,
degraded and dehumanised by the patriarchal class structure.
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 Southern Women’s Perspectives
• Feminists wedded to safeguard the entitlements of
women have been trying to convince the international
financial, economic and commercial institutions,
namely, World Bank, International Monitory Fund,
World Trade Organization and Organization of
Economic Cooperation and Development

• to withdraw existing conditionalities and rules of

economic globalization, and

• to stop covertly and overtly, promoting the interests of

patriarchal class system, all over the globe, defending
the interests of TNCs and MNCs and imposing
unrestrained commodification, thereby resulting into
concentration and centralization of economic, financial
and political power in the hands of the few.
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Measures to Enhance Capabilities
of Poor Women
– Law Reform (Maternity Benefit Act, Family
Leave, Sexual Harassment at Workplace)
– Legal Protection for Informal Sector-
Umbrella Legislation-Occupational Health &
Safety
– Capacity Building and Training
– Social Audits of laws, rights
– Special schemes & programmes for
women’s development & empowerment
– Gender Budgeting
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 Social Audit of Women Workers rights
• The Employment Guarantee Scheme needs to be
expanded and improved for urban workers. The focus
of such employment schemes can be on building
infrastructure, slum development and housing.

• The National Renewal Fund should be extended to

cover the unorganized sector and a substantial part
should go into the retraining of workers.

• Maternity Benefit for ALL working Mothers

irrespective of the number of employees. Crèches
should be provided for children of all workers and not
merely women workers irrespective of the number of
employees. There could be a common fund for each
industry.
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Recommendations for strengthening the
SHGs
• Financial inclusion of poor women thro’ state
policies, programmes and schemes
• Nurturing grants be released at regular intervals
• Pension-linked insurance scheme
• Banks to release loans thro’ women friendly
support structures
• subsidy be replaced by revolving fund
• state level agency to be appointed to train NGOs
• initiatives and training to bankers for improving
programme delivery mechanism

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Property and Land Rights
As per the UN
“Women constitute ½ of world’s population,
do 2/3 of world’s work, in return get 1/10 of
world’s income and 1/100 of world’s wealth.

1. Need for a global campaign

2. To confront gender bias in property laws.
Need for gender-just family laws in matters
such as marriage, divorce, custody and
guardianship of child, maintenance,
women’s right to stay in the parental or
matrimonial home

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 Social Audit of Budgets
• The Budget is an important tool in the hands of state for
affirmative action for improvement of gender relations through
reduction of gender gap in the development process. It can
help to reduce economic inequalities, between men and women
as well as between the rich and the poor.

• Pro-poor budgeting, bottom-up budgeting, child budgeting

• Green budgeting, local and global implications of pro-poor and

pro-women budgeting

• Alternative macro scenarios emerging out of alternative

budgets and inter-linkages between gender-sensitive
budgeting and women’s empowerment.

• Women’s Component Plan to assure at least 30% of

funds/benefits from all development sectors flow to women.

• Capacity building workshops for women in governance 21

 Affirmative Action by the State
• Strengthening of Public Distribution System (PDS)- Food Security
• Access to critical resources ( fuel, fodder, water, health-care,
nutritious diet)
• Education, Health & Housing Rights

• Safety nets for women in the subsistence sector of the economy

in terms of loans, infrastructure, storage and transport and state
subsidy and support price for agriculture, animal husbandry,
dairy development, horticulture and floriculture.

• Environmental Issues: Natural resources, being humankind’s

common heritage, must be preserved for the use of actual and
future generation with the perspective that each human being has
an access to water, air, energy, etc. according to her or his needs.

• Commercialisation and privatisation of these resources must be

stopped. Biological diversity (flora, fauna, forests, ecosystems)
must be preserved and indigenous women’s collective wisdom
must be recognised, respected and valued 22
Need for participatory Development
• To meet strategic and practical gender
needs of women, all nations need high
levels of participatory democracy in
governance so that we can enhance
capabilities of poor women and improve
lives and freedoms of poor women.

• Reservation of seats for Women in Local

Self Government, legislature and
parliament. 23
Thank you

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