...STATE OF THE WORLD’S CITIES 2008/2009 Case Study Woman-headed households suffer disproportionately from inadequate housing s Turkish women taking a lunch break in Ankara ©Kobby Dagan/iStockphoto A recent report released by the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions notes that while previous studies found that women who migrate to cities do so to join family members – mostly husbands – in the city, this trend appears to be changing: an increasing number of women are migrating to cities on their own, often to escape domestic violence or discrimination in rural areas, or because they have been disinherited. In some sub-Saharan African countries, stigmatization due to HIV/AIDS has also forced women to move to cities. In Kenya, for instance, many rural women who are infected with HIV, or who have lost a husband to the disease, are sent away from the marital home along with their children. Many of these women end up in urban slums, while their children, who are presumed to be infected with the virus, are often denied a share of the father’s property. While poor women and men in urban centres both face insecurity of land tenure and shelter, women are especially disadvantaged because they are often excluded from secure tenure as a consequence of cultural norms and unequal legal rights in legislative and policy frameworks of political systems. Women who become single heads of households, particularly in Africa, are particularly vulnerable, as in many countries in the region...
Words: 1047 - Pages: 5
...people choose to adopt a child or become a parent through artificial insemination or just take care of a child, who was left by his natural parents. The household of a single parent differs a lot from a usual household. Certainly all situations are unique, some people choose the path of single parenting consciously, and some are made to bring the child up alone. There are a lot of negative moments about single parenting, there are some positive as well. For example, if a person takes care of a child alone, he has always the freedom to choose and to make all the decisions on his own. On the other hand making decisions can be really hard sometimes and really often people feel the need for somebody’s support and a piece of advice. Usually single parents do not have enough time to do all the house work and thus involve children from the early age in doing chores. Single parents have to discuss most of house matters that should be actually solved with another parent, with their children like with adults. In case the other parent is alive and has the wish to see the kid, they all have to get used to taking the children from one home to another. At any rate single parenting is rather hard for the parent, as a child needs attention and care all the time and parents need breaks for rest. We can not consider single-parent households a...
Words: 2046 - Pages: 9
...1 a) Advantages female headed household i. Female headed household get support from social welfare organizations. According to Carnoy (1994), women earn low wages in the labour market and the general condition of the welfare state contribute to the growing number of single mothers living in poverty and this attracted so many social welfare organisations like UN, UNICEF, PLAN international amongst others to support women through giving them soft loans and food. ii. Empowerment, since women have to work for themselves. iii. Freedom/flexible in decision making b) Disadvantages of female headed household Female headed households are always under the threat of rapist, womanizers and often become easy targets of criminals. i. As females are less equipped with the skills of high income generation such as tertiary education, they are not able to take up better jobs in labour market, their mobility to search job at various workplaces is also restricted, several times they are less preferred at workplace in comparison with their male counterparts and they get lesser wage or salary for the same job. Thus it makes a female headed households vulnerable to shock of poverty and risk of survival. ii. This not only restricts time with children, but opportunities for personal rest and recreation, not to mention the active cultivation of links with kin, friends and neighbours and workmates which might enhance their access to ‘positive social capital’...
Words: 1225 - Pages: 5
...Critically discuss the lack of rural roads and its impacts on female headed households. Female headed households are households which are dependent on women for all the household duties, and managing of the house both financially and getting all the duties in the household done. (gupta, et al, 1997).This essay will therefore be focused on the challenges female headed household members get through on a daily basis,and issues of service delivery and access to services in relation to their surrounding environment. Female headed rural households deal with a wide range of challenges on an everyday basis, and because these homesteads are based in rural areas.one of the major issues for them is transportation. Due to lack rural roads transportation may be limited or very expensive for them to afford. (Biljana, et al, 2014). Moreover the lack of transportation hinders the efficiency of getting everyday activities done.this would then result in them having no other option but to walk long distances, to get everyday activities such as water and wood fetching,accessing healthcare and educational facilities,selling and buying products from the markets as a way of genereating income and getting employment. Moreover walking long distances would mean that they have to carry all the loads with them and the most efficient way of doing this is by head loading ,although carrying the heavy loads on an evryday basis may seem as a way of life, it also poses an enormous strain on their bodies...
Words: 1020 - Pages: 5
... and everyday activities Graham Jones Ms. Lookadoo Communication 1113 In recent research, it has been found that the roles of men and women are controversial. The controversy has risen because men and women have different norms, and these norms are present in many every day situations. Men and women are supposed to be view as equals in society, but many people refuse to inhale this idea. Women and men are equals, but there are some obvious differences in their characteristics that allow people to think otherwise. In communication, the gender characteristics of different cultures impact specific community structures such as life at home, the work environment, and everyday activities. Life at home is a very interesting topic when it comes to gender characteristics. Working class couples take on different roles when it comes to household chores and in many instances women end up monitoring or even redoing the men’s job anyway (Sassler, 2013). This goes to show that women do a disproportionate share of the housework. The research is evident that in two out of every three couples, the woman stays at home during the day, which puts her in the position to take advantage of cooking and cleaning around the house. Most women are being set up and given a disproportionate amount of the household chores. Meanwhile, it is said that the male in the relationship might even do less around the house when he is not working because it challenges his masculinity (Sassler...
Words: 1648 - Pages: 7
...streets away from their close relatives and partners- visit regularly- especially if they have daughters. -MASON (1993)- study of Greater Manchester found that over 90% of the sample had given or received financial help from relatives and almost 60% shared a household with an adult relative other than their parents at some point in their lives. The term MODIFIED EXTENDED FAMILY is used to show how the nuclear family and individuals still have ties to extended kin. EVIDENCE THAT THE NUCLEAR FAMILY IS NOT DEAD -MCGLONE – found that unemployment, poverty, community care for the elderly and increasing numbers of young people living at home longer, means that there is a need to family mutual support systems. –nuclear families feel a strong sense of obligation towards extended family in times of family crises. -FINCH –found that in working class are areas, the extended family is still common. Her study pf the East End of London found that adults often live only a few streets away from their close relatives and partners- visit regularly- especially if they have daughters. -MASON (1993)- study of Greater Manchester found that over 90% of the sample had given or received financial help from relatives and almost 60% shared a household with an adult relative other than their parents at some point in their lives. The term MODIFIED EXTENDED FAMILY is used to show how the...
Words: 3030 - Pages: 13
...poverty has indicated that there are clear links between gender and poverty in that more women than men live in poverty. 1 Statistics from the United Nations show that the majority of the 1.5 billion people living on US$1 (HK$7.79)2 a day or less are women.3 There is a consensus among nations that the gap between women and men caught in the cycle of poverty has widened in the past decade, which is now referred to as "the feminization of poverty". In fact, the Platform for Action adopted by the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995, identified the eradication of the persistent and increasing burden of poverty on women as one of the 12 critical areas of concern requiring special attention and action by international communities, governments and civil societies. 1.2 There has been an increase in the number of female-headed households due to divorce, widowhood and other reasons. Female-headed households do not have income from male earners and the single mothers have to fulfil both the roles of an earner and a carer. Therefore, these female-headed households bear a higher risk of living in poverty. More importantly, unless the economic status of these women improves, the accompanying problem of child poverty cannot be properly tackled.4 1.3 Poverty is a multi-dimensional problem. While some causes of poverty are common to both men and women, some apply specifically to women. These particular factors are discussed in the following section. 1 2 3 4 Bellamy & Rake...
Words: 1701 - Pages: 7
...Status of Women will open on 27 February at United Nations headquarters, focused on the theme of empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, sustainable development and current challenges’ Rural women constitute one-fourth of the world's population acordng to UN WOMEN (2012). They are leaders, producers, entrepreneurs and service providers, and their contributions are vital to the well-being of families, communities and economies, and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Rural women account for a great proportion of the agricultural labour force, produce the majority of food grown, especially in subsistence farming, and perform most of the unpaid care work in rural areas Block (2010). Agriculture provides a livelihood...
Words: 1195 - Pages: 5
...impacts are felt disproportionately among women. What's more, these same consequences of HIV/AIDS - poverty, food insecurity, malnutrition, reduced labour force and loss of knowledge - contribute to making the rural poor more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS infection. This devastating cycle must be broken, and the agricultural sector has a critical role to play. It is estimated that 42 million people in the world are infected with the HIV virus. Assuming that each HIV/AIDS case directly influences the lives of four other individuals, at least 168 million people are likely to be affected by the epidemic. And approximately 95 percent of them live in develping countries. Food security HIV/AIDS takes its toll on food security in a number of ways. For example: HIV increases fatigue and decreases work productivity, which means less food on the table. In households coping with sick family members, food consumption generally decreases. As adults fall ill, families face increasing medical and health care costs, thus reducing the possibility for them to purchase the food that they can no longer produce. While the number of productive family members decline, the number of dependants grows, as households lose adults and take in orphans of dead relatives, further threatening household food security. Rural communities face a greater burden of care as many sick urban dwellers and migrant labourers return to their village homes. As more household members die, families face declining productivity...
Words: 2747 - Pages: 11
...Poverty In America Poverty In America Poverty may be known as a state symbol in less developed countries. Lester R. Brown in his book 'World without Borders' explains poverty thus; "Unfortunately it is not an economic abstraction, it is a human condition. It is despair, grief and pain. It is the despair of a father with a family of seven children in a poor country when he joins the, swelling ranks of unemployed with no prospects of unemployment compensation. Poverty is the longing of a young boy playing outside a village school but unable to enter because his parents lack a few rupees needed to buy text books. Poverty is the grief of parents watching a three year old child die of a routine childhood disease because they cannot afford any medical care”. By poverty we generally mean a situation in which a person fails to earn income sufficient to purchase his bare means of subsistence. A poor man is one who does not have command over the basic needs of life like enough food, clothing, drinking water and shelter on the material level. On the nonmaterial level a poor man is deprived of basic social needs like health and education. Three broad concepts of poverty can be identified. Poverty can be defined as subsistence, inequality and externality. But poverty is mainly viewed in two ways absolute and relative. In absolute sense, poverty relates to subsistence. It means absence of the minimum physical quantities of food required for an individual daily. People are considered...
Words: 791 - Pages: 4
...Instead living apart from one or both parents is common for children and husbands and wives traditionally live apart. Even in marriages that are active, women may live apart from their husbands, generally because of their work or family obligations. Maintaining separate households is not an issue for Ghanaians, relations between families are maintained by the exchange of resources over the lifetime of the relationship (COE, 2011). Migration is a historical aspect of social life in Ghana, it is valued as sources of new knowledge, skills and resources. Many men and women migrate for different economic opportunities and changes with social relationships. Many husbands leave their family behind when they migrate but are still expected to support their children and wife. Migration exacerbates the already common problems of fatherly abandonment, sexual infidelity and marital separation (COE,...
Words: 1329 - Pages: 6
...majority of whom are women, live in unacceptable conditions of poverty, mostly in the developing countries. Women represent 70 percent of the world's poor. They comprise more than 50 percent of the world's population but own only one percent of the world's wealth. Their lives are a litany of injustice, discrimination and obstacles that get in the way of achieving their basic needs of good health, safe childbirth, education, and employment. The sequence of discrimination that a woman may suffer during her entire life is unacceptable but all too common. Low income is the major cause that places women at high risk of poverty, and lone mothers are usually at the highest risk for extreme poverty because their income is insufficient to rear children. As the number of unmarried women increases, the diverse causes affecting their poverty must be examined. Poverty is multidimensional, and therefore, economic and socio-cultural factors overlap and contribute to the establishment of poverty. It is a phenomenon with multiple root causes and manifestations. Lack of income is a principal reason for women's risk of poverty as it deprives women of their basic needs and capabilities. As women disproportionately earn less income than men, they are deprived of basic education and health care. This deprivation passes on from one generation of women to the next, which leads to a perpetual feminization of poverty. The main reason behind this cycle of poverty is the lower earnings of women. According to...
Words: 2397 - Pages: 10
...endorsement by the United Nations Development Programme or the institutions of the United Nations system. Table Of Contents Introduction I. Women And Poverty: Are Women Poorer? II. From Women and Poverty to Gender and Poverty A. Engendering Poverty Analysis B. New Conceptualizations of Poverty C. From Consumption/Income Poverty to Human Poverty D. Are Women Poorer?: Revisiting the Question from a Human Poverty Perspective E. Assessing Gender Differences in Poverty: Quantitative versus Qualitative Approaches F. Do Gender Inequalities Increase Overall Poverty? III. What Is To Be Done? What Is Being Done? A. Gender Mainstreaming at UNDP B. Engendering Anti-Poverty Projects and Programmes Figures Figure 1: A Pyramid of Poverty Concepts Boxes Box 1: Chile: Targeting Female Headship for Combating Poverty Box 2: Gender and Poverty in Guinea: Human Poverty versus Consumption Poverty and Participatory Approach to Poverty Assessment Box 3: South Asia Poverty Alleviation Program (SAPAP): The Case of India Social Mobilization through Self-Help Groups 1 “The causes and outcomes of poverty are heavily engendered and yet traditional conceptualizations consistently fail to delineate poverty’s gender dimension, resulting in policies and programmes which fail to improve the lives of poor women and their families.” Lourdes Beneria and Savitri Bisnath (1997) Introduction The relationship between gender and poverty is a complex and controversial...
Words: 9679 - Pages: 39
...THE ROLE OF WOMEN by: Saiful007 The role of women in development is vital. However, it has changed somewhat over the years:Women are farmers and food providers - In some parts of the world, 80% of basic food is produced by women. In doing this, women contribute to national agricultural output, general environmental maintenance and, most importantly, family food security. They achieve this despite the unequal access to land, machinery, fertilisers etc. It has been claimed that if men and women had equal access to these resources, there would be substantial gains in agricultural output for both men and women, their families and their communities (ifpri.org). Women are business people and traders - Up to 40% of the world's labour force are women and this does not include the informal work carried out by women. More often than not, workers in factories, in the home, on the land and in the market place are women. Despite this fact, the majority of these women remain dependent on men due to lack of access to necessary resources such as capital or credit, household resources and due also to patriarchal practices and traditions (link to definition in HIV and AIDS glossary) including those that relate to the economic position of women. Women are heads of households - In both developed and developing countries there has been an increase in female-headed households due to male migration, high death rates due to conflict or illness and abandonment or separation. Although female heads...
Words: 394 - Pages: 2
...in poverty in the U.S. The children living in poverty are affected in many different ways psychologically, socially, and physically. The federal poverty guideline for a family of four is $23,050.00 and that guideline compares to a median U.S. household income of $50,054.00 (Breslow, 2012). Many of these single mothers living in low income have low education. Nationally, over 80 percent of families headed by a parent without a high school diploma lives in poverty, compared to 54 percent of families headed by a parent a high school diploma, and only 22 percent of families headed by a parent with at least some college education. Single mothers live in poverty because they lack higher education and are products of poverty themselves. Lack of Education Thirty years ago less than twenty percent of birth occurred to single women. Today that number has doubled. At one time race was a huge factor, however. Today, education is a key factor. In 1990, ten percent of birth occurred to white single mothers with some sort of post-secondary education, however, they did not have a degree. Today, that number has tripled. For women with a high-school diploma or less, the number is sixty percent. The number is eight percent for women with a college degree of any race (Forbes, 2012). Education is a very important factor in keeping the number of unwed mothers at a low number. Educating young...
Words: 1692 - Pages: 7
