Gender Gaps in Property Ownership in Sub-Saharan Africa

Isis Gaddis, Rahul Lahoti and Wenjie Li

No 8573, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: Women's ownership, use, and control over property matter for their well-being and agency and can influence outcomes for the second generation -- women's daughters and sons. Additionally, gender gaps in property ownership induce allocative inefficiencies and foregone economic output, thus having economywide implications. This paper uses data for 28 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to shine a spotlight on gaps between men and women in land and housing (property) ownership and analyze patterns across and within countries. The results indicate that men are about three times as likely as women to claim sole ownership over property. Gender gaps are smaller if joint ownership is taken into consideration, but still materially disadvantage women. Men are significantly more likely to own property than women even after controlling for a host of other factors. This paper is an important step toward a better understanding of gender gaps in property ownership in Africa and outlines an agenda for future data collection and analytic efforts.

Keywords: Gender and Development; Municipal Management and Reform; Urban Housing; Urban Housing and Land Settlements; Urban Governance and Management; Inequality; Agricultural Economics; Regulatory Regimes; Legislation; Legal Reform; Social Policy; Common Property Resource Development; Legal Products; Judicial System Reform (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-08-30
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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