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The association between income distribution and measures of health has been well established such that societies with smaller income differences between rich and poor people have increased longevity (Wilkinson, 1996). While more egalitarian societies tend to have better health, in most developed societies people lower down the social scale have death rates two to four times higher than those nearer the top. Inequities in income distribution and the consequent disparities in health status are particularly problematic for many women, including single mothers, older women, and women of colour. The feminization of poverty is the rapidly increasing proportion of women in the adult poverty population (Doyal, 1995; Fraser, 1987).

The purpose of this paper is to scrutinize the severe impact on the abilities of urban poor women such as education skills, entrepreneurship qualities, employment skills, creative abilities and social skills, as they face many challenges like inequitable access to work and unacceptable living conditions influenced by an underlying mind-set in the society driven by gender socialization. Though there have been changes in the way we perceive the abilities of urban poor women from being a homemaker to participating in employment and access to education, one cannot deny that discrimination and bias based on gender socialization still exists in the society.

This paper uses secondary data through a systematic review where the inclusion criteria were framed on the basis of relevance, credibility and heterogeneity. However, as this is a concept paper, the study is bereft of empirical data.

In most cases, the ability and potential of women, such as educational skills, entrepreneurship qualities, employment skills, creative abilities and social skills, go unnoticed or, more often, not taken into consideration. Predominantly influenced by gender roles, not all abilities and skills are associated with women; this kind of labelling process refers to gender socialization. Ongoing in society for a long time to an extent, it has been accepted consciously or subconsciously by men and women. As a result, urban poor women, in particular, are further deprived of their capabilities, directly affecting their personal growth and economic status.

Poverty affects men, women, boys and girls, but it is experienced differently by people of different ages, ethnicities, family roles and sex. Moreover, due to women’s biology, social and cultural gender roles and culturally constructed subordination, they are labelled with specific roles dictated by various social agents; This labelling process refers to gender socialization. As a result, capable women with untapped skills, abilities and potential to learn, work, earn, play and develop are ignored or suppressed; hence, they go unnoticed, further intensifying poverty among poor urban women.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the gender differences in time poverty in two Middle East North African (MENA) countries, particularly Egypt and Tunisia, as well as examining its determinants across gender.

To this end, the authors make use of data provided by the Labor Market Panel Survey (LMPS) in Egypt (2012) and in Tunisia (2014) to estimate probit regressions to identify various determinants that explain time poverty.

The empirical findings show that the probability of time poverty, in both countries, is lower for women compared to men. In addition, the determinants of time poverty (individual, household and community variables) and their marginal effects differ across gender.

Research on the gender inequalities in time poverty and its determinants has been very limited. Additionally, the relationships between individuals’ time use and the conditions under which this might represent time poverty have not been fully studied in the literature. Moreover, most of the available studies have focused on developed countries; while studies tackling this issue in developing countries are very few. For the MENA region, in particular, this topic is totally missing in the available literature.

Micro-businesses contribute to economic development by improving individual welfare. Women are the primary drivers and owners of such businesses in urban Ethiopia. The purpose of this study is to investigate the poverty status and determinants among women-owned micro-businesses.

The basic study units were women who owned micro-businesses. A sample of 384 women-owned micro-business was chosen using a stratified and systematic random sampling technique. Thirty-six participants were purposely chosen for in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Questionnaires, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions were used to collect data. The poverty head count, poverty gap and poverty severity indices were computed to estimate poverty status. The major determinants of women’s poverty were investigated using a logistic regression model.

The overall poverty incidence, gap and severity were estimated to be 24.27%, 3.85%, and 1.11% respectively, among the women who owned micro-businesses. Eight of the 14 poverty determinants, including age, dependents, savings, remittance and the number of days and hours women work in their businesses, were found to have a significant effect on women’s poverty. The results suggest that local governments, technical and vocational training institutions should work together to reduce the impact of poverty-aggravating factors on women and increase the contribution of women-owned micro-businesses to poverty reduction.

This study addressed the poverty status of women who run micro-businesses, which is a crucial issue in Ethiopia’s urban context. It adds new knowledge to the issue of gendered economic participation, poverty reduction and poverty determinants in the Ethiopian context.

The purpose of this research is to explore the possibility of integrating women‐centred savings schemes into formal finance systems in order to help such schemes to leverage finance for housing purposes.

The research adopts a case study approach that uses mainly semi‐structured interviews. The case studies involve two savings schemes with their respective supporting organisations and five commercial banks in South Africa.

The case studies show that, if savings systems are flexible and suitable to their needs, women are capable of saving and repaying housing loans. The results also suggest that the accumulated group savings and the savings schemes themselves act as good collateral. However, despite showing interest in involvement in the low‐income sector, banks do not have a financially viable and workable business model to exploit this potential market.

Integrated community housing is essential. Future research is required to determine how good repayment rates could be achieved while maintaining risks at acceptable levels.

For practical purposes, collaboration with intermediary organisations working with women‐centred savings schemes would be a beneficial starting point in linking the savings schemes with formal finance systems.

The paper provides valuable reference material for understanding the gap that exists between what banks currently offer and what poor households require in meeting their housing needs. It may also be useful to researchers and practitioners as a basis for exploring innovative finance models for banks.

In spite of the War on Poverty programs of the 1960s and the economic boom of the 1990s, poverty remains consistently high among families with children in the USA. The main source of income for these families is employment, which is largely a function of educational attainment. The purpose of this paper is to turn to aggregate and individual level data and demonstrate the power of college education in economic well‐being of women with children.

A nationally representative sample of single and married mothers was retrieved and the role of education in economic well‐being of these women was examined using descriptive, bi‐variate, and multiple ordinal logistic regression.

Both married and single mothers benefit immensely from a bachelors degree.

In recent years, policy makers in the USA have trimmed resources that promote education among poor women with children. This analysis, underscores the importance of postsecondary education in the economic well‐being of mothers with children and therefore the need for social policy promoting college education.

This article shows the power of education on economic well‐being of both married and single women with children.

Uses National Child Development Study (NCDS) data to examine the employment experiences of men and women assessed with poor numeracy compared with those with good numeracy skills at age 37. To uncover the extent of negative effects of having poor numeracy skills, the sample is restricted to those whose poor or good numeracy was accompanied by good literacy skills. As a further control, much of the analysis is also restricted to those who had left full‐time education at age 16. Maps the proportions in full‐time employment between ages 17 to 37 and demonstrates the very different labour market experiences of the two skills groups in the areas of occupation, training, promotion and income. Concludes that poor numeracy reduces employment opportunities and progress in jobs.

The current study aims to use bioecological theory to examine the effects of different contextual factors such as husbands’ desire for children, visit by a family planning worker, media messages, and province level on women’s use of contraception in Pakistan. Two cross-sectional data sets were taken from the Pakistan Demographic and Health Surveys (PDHS), conducted in 2006–07 and 2012–13, which included 3,811 and 4,871 currently married, lower socioeconomic status (SES) women aged 15–49 years, respectively. Using logistic regression, the results showed that women’s perception of a husband’s desire for children and visit by family planning workers were significant predictors of women’s use of contraception in both periods (i.e. PDHS 2006–07 and PDHS, 2012–13). Specifically, those women who had a desire for children similar to their husband were more likely to use contraception than those who either were not sure about their husband’s desire for children or whose desire for children was less or more than their husband. Moreover, those women who had at least one visit from a family planning worker during the 12 months prior to the survey were more likely to use contraception than their counterparts.

Income in later life is an important factor in ensuring good health, quality of life, social engagement and subjective well‐being, yet it is now well known that women in later life are much poorer than men. In this article, data from the General Household Surveys 2001 and 2002 is used to show that this is largely the result of women's individual, and hidden, poverty within marriage. Dependency on men for income during the working life combines with the structure of the UK system to leave married men and married women with very unequal incomes after retirement. The median income of married and cohabiting women was only £53 per week, compared with men's £172; only 27% of married women had any private pension provision at all, compared with 75% of married men. Even among this 27% of women, half receive less than £35 a week from their pensions. Apart from the implications of this for potentially unequal access to money when cohabiting, the vast majority of women live alone for at least part of their retirement. When women become divorcees or widows, they cannot make up for lost income from their partners. Widows are thus relatively poor when compared with older women who have never married, but divorced women are on average the poorest of all. Social policies improving basic pension provision to all women in later life are urgently needed.

“Feminisation of poverty” is a phrase heard frequently today, not only in the popular press, but also in professional groups concerned with women. It suggests that women living alone with their children bear a disproportionate share of the poverty burden. The following questions are discussed: Is this a crisis for American society? Is the standard of living getting worse for women and children, even as it improves for the general population? If it is, why is it happening? And finally, what could be done about it? Data are examined that show that “feminisation of poverty” is a significant problem in the United States. The reasons women are more likely to be poor include inadequate paying jobs, an expanding labourforce, and unique problems associated with female head‐of‐households. Solutions to feminisation of poverty include raising low income jobs via minimum wage and comparable worth legislation, establishing and enforcing realistic child support and spousal maintenance levels, significantly raising the level of public support programmes for children, making available reasonable education‐training‐retraining programmes for women, emphasising the prevention of poverty, and providing better health education and chemical dependency intervention.