Poverty through the Lens of Gender

The gender perspective provides a relevant approach to analyze inequalities between men and women regarding poverty. For a long time, a so-called “poor man” was identified as a man who had not enough resources to support himself and his family, whereas the so-called “poor woman” was the one who could not rely on a partner’s support. Nowadays, single mothers still face a higher risk of poverty than any other type of family structures. This paper advocates an economic analysis based on a gendered approach to both poverty and social policies.