Gender and poverty – an analysis of urban poverty in Ethiopia

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between gender and poverty in urban Ethiopia using cross-sectional data of 1999/2000 and 2004/2005 household surveys. It employs consumption expenditure to measure the poverty level. In addition, Foster–Greer–Thorbecke index and regression models such as Ordinary Least Squares, Probit and Quantile models are used to assess the correlates of poverty and determinants of real per capita expenditure of households at mean and different quantiles. The result shows that between 1999/2000 and 2004/2005, the poverty headcount has decreased for both female-headed households (FHHs) and male-headed households (MHHs), where the rate of reduction was higher for the FHHs. Feminization of poverty is thus a weak argument in urban Ethiopia. However, over the two periods the income shortfall below the poverty line and severity of poverty were more common in households headed by females. In the year 1999/2000, FHHs were more poverty stricken compared to MHHs, and the gender headcount difference had fallen to 3% in 2004/2005, but remained at a higher level for both, indicating that poverty is an issue of both MHHs and FHHs.