Female headship and poverty in the Arab region: Analysis of trends and dynamics based on a new typology

Shireen AlAzzawi, Hai-Anh Dang (), Vladimir Hlasny, Kseniya Abanokova Kseniya Abanokova () and Jere Behrman
Additional contact information
Kseniya Abanokova Kseniya Abanokova: World Bank, USA

PIER Working Paper Archive from Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania

Abstract: Various challenges are thought to render female-headed households (FHHs) vulnerable to poverty in the Arab region. Yet, previous studies have mixed results and the absence of household panel survey data hinders analysis of poverty dynamics. We address these challenges by proposing a novel typology of FHHs and analyze synthetic panels that we constructed from 20 rounds of repeated cross-sectional surveys spanning the past two decades from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Mauritania, Palestine, and Tunisia. We find that the definition of FHHs matters for measuring poverty levels and dynamics. Most types of FHHs are less poor than non-FHHs on average, but FHHs with a major share of female adults are generally poorer. FHHs are more likely to escape poverty than households on average, but FHHs without children are most likely to do so. While more children are generally associated with more poverty for FHHs, there is heterogeneity across countries in addition to heterogeneity across FHH measures. Our findings provide useful inputs for social protection and employment programs aiming at reducing gender inequalities and poverty in the Arab region.

Keywords: poverty; feminization; female-headedness typology; synthetic panels; Arab region; household surveys (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I3 J16 N35 O1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 95 pages
Date: 2023
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://economics.sas.upenn.edu/system/files/worki ... per%20Submission.pdf (application/pdf)
Our link check indicates that this URL is bad, the error code is: 403 Forbidden

Related works:
Working Paper: Female Headship and Poverty in the Arab Region: Analysis of Trends and Dynamics Based on a New Typology (2024)
Working Paper: Female Headship and Poverty in the Arab Region: Analysis of Trends and Dynamics Based on a New Typology (2023)
Working Paper: Female headship and poverty in the Arab region: Analysis of trends and dynamics based on a new typology (2023)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pen:papers:23-021

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in PIER Working Paper Archive from Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania 133 South 36th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Administrator ().