poverty and concept of ‘feminisation of poverty’- poverty & human capabilities by prof. vibhuti...

8/7/2019 Poverty and concept of Feminisation of Poverty- Poverty & Human Capabilities by Prof. Vibhuti Patel

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Poverty & Concept of

Feminisation of Poverty-

Poverty & Human Capabilities

By Dr. Vibhuti Patel, Director, PGSR

Head, University Department of Economics

SNDT Womens University, New Marine Lines, ,

Mumbai-400020

Phone-26770227, 22052970 (O)

Mobile-9321040048 [email protected]


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Poverty The majority of the 1.5 billion people

living on 1 dollar a day or less.

Reasons- Unemployment, underemployment

War, Conflict

non-rewarding work

Public policies-SAP

prejudices against minorities

casteism, racism


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The Feminization of Poverty"

The gap between women and mencaught in the cycle of poverty hascontinued to widen in the past decade.

Worldwide, women earn on averageslightly more than 50 per cent of whatmen earn.

Female Headed Households-thepoorest of the poor


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Consequences on women

denied access to critical resources such as credit, landand inheritance.

Their labour goes unrewarded and unrecognized.

Their health care and nutritional needs are not givenpriority,

they lack sufficient access to education and supportservices,

and their participation in decision-making at home and inthe community are minimal.

Caught in the cycle of poverty, women lack access toresources and services to change their situation.

Insecure housing and threat of displacement

Prone to violence-domestic and societal


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Multifaceted Tragedies

Rapid pace of globalization has brought massive uncertainties inwomens lives. Multi-faced tragedies due to

mercerization of poor economies and commercialization of humanrelations,

commodification of womens bodies especially in sexual trafficking,

advertisements and beauty-contests promoted by the Trans-nationalcorporations (TNCs) and Multi-national Corporations (MNCs),

starvation deaths in the rural areas,

havoc played by onslaught of new reproductive technologies, of bothpro and anti-natalist varieties, racist population control policies, sexselective abortions of female fetuses,

violating dignity and bodily integrity of women, armed conflicts,

increasing economic disparity, the feminisation of poverty, disasters in the name of mega development projects resulting into

massive displacement of peoples, stressful life leading to increasingviolence against women, - the pandemic of HIV and AIDS,

persistent racism, casteism, sexism, chauvinism and extremism


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Gender Implications of

Globalisation The negative impact of the globalization

of the world economy is bornedisproportionately by women.

As the economy becomes increasinglylinked to global markets, it often leads toa reduction in public spending and

social programmes, pushing the costson to the family, where it is most oftenthe women who shoulder the addedburden.


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The Asian Scenario

South Asian (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh,Sri Lanka, Nepal, Afghanistan), South EastAsia (Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines,

Malaysia) countries, Indochina (Laos,Kampuchea and Vietnam) and China isflooded with Sweatshops, ghetto labourmarkets and stigmatised migrant workers.

ASEAN countries have recently discussedestablishment of Special Economic Zonesthat would ensure flexibalisation of thelabour force to attract Foreign DirectInvestment (FDI).


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Gender based market segmentation

Segmentation begins in the rural areaswhere the asset-less poor in the marginof economy migrate to the cities.

Dual economy thrives on discrimination based

on gender relations, caste, religion, language,parents education, family occupation,migration status and age.

1. Income differs widely between thesesegments.

2. Mobility between them is limited Globalization Triangles-cheap labour from rural

areas, manufacturing hub in towns andfinancial hub the metropolis


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Female-headed Households

In all developing countries, there hasbeen an increase in the number offemale-headed households.

Female-headed households that do nothave access to remittances from maleearners are poorer than male-headedhouseholds.

Female-headed households are morevulnerable to increased unemploymentand reductions in social and welfarespending.


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Poverty & Human Capabilities Empowering women is a critical factor in

freeing the millions of people who are caughtin the cycle of poverty and hunger.

By providing women with access to

economic and educational opportunities, aswell as the autonomy needed to takeadvantage of such opportunities, animportant obstacle to poverty eradication

would be overcome. The provision of credit, especially micro-

credit, has become a very popular andsuccessful strategy for poverty eradication.


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Question development paradigm

the real aim of development is to improve the qualityof human life.

process that enables human beings to realize theirpotential, build self-confidence and lead lives ofdignity and fulfillment.

Economic growth is an important component ofdevelopment, but it cannot be a goal in itself, nor canit go on indefinitely.

Although people differ in the goals that they wouldset for development, some are virtually universal.

These include a long and healthy life, education,access to the resources needed for a decentstandard of living, political freedom, guaranteedhuman rights, and freedom from violence.Development is real only if it makes our lives betterin all these respects


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Development Alternatives with Women The critique of trickle down theory

Marginalization thesis popularized by the UN as WID(Women in Development)

Integration of Women Approach known as Women andDevelopment (WAD)

Development Alternatives with Women (DAWN) at

Nairobi Conference, 1985 Gender and Development (GAD)- Women in Decision

Making Process, 1990

Adoption of CEDAW-Convention on all forms ofDiscrimination against Women

Human Development Index, Gender EmpowermentMeasure, 1995

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), 2000

Women Empowerment Policy, GoI, 2001

Gender Mainstreaming in planning, policy making and

programme Implementation


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Women in Decision Making

an empowered woman is one who has the

agency to formulate strategic choices and to

control resources and decisions that affect

important life outcomes Womens agency to use rights, capabilities,

resources, and place in decision-making

bodies (such as is provided through

leadership opportunities and participation in

political institutions).


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Womens Agency Globalization has enhanced patriarchal control over womens

sexuality, fertility and labour by superimposing commercialvalues on the conventional values throughout the world.

Feminist economists can play a crucial role in motivating thenation-states and the global decision-making bodies to be pro-active in furthering womens entitlements in the households,

economy and governance.

Womens groups are making global effort to change macro-policies, programmes of the nation-state and actions at the locallevel by the government and non-government bodies.

In response to imposition of structural adjustment programmesand stabilization policies at the behest of International Monitoryfund & World Bank, womens movements across the nationalboundaries have been debating various strategies and tactics oftransforming the Neo-liberal Development Paradigm.


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Ray of Hope World Social Forum and Regional Social Fora have provided

democratic platforms for reflections on a just, sustainable &caring Global Economy.

These deliberations have convinced us that Another World isPossible and globalisation also bears the promise andpossibilities of furthering womens rights and well-being.

Gender sensitive strategic thinking can address practical andstrategic gender needs of women. For example, more women inmore areas of economic activities can be gainfully and justlyemployed. Information technology can enable women throughoutthe globe to share strategies, successes and stress-free and safe

life.

We should not forget that there is North in the South and there isSouth in the North. So we must strive for global solidarity andsisterhood of all women who are oppressed and exploited,degraded and dehumanised by the patriarchal class structure.


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Southern Womens Perspectives

Feminists wedded to safeguard the entitlements ofwomen have been trying to convince the internationalfinancial, economic and commercial institutions,namely, World Bank, International Monitory Fund,World Trade Organization and Organization ofEconomic Cooperation and Development

to withdraw existing conditionalities and rules ofeconomic globalization, and

to stop covertly and overtly, promoting the interests ofpatriarchal class system, all over the globe, defendingthe interests of TNCs and MNCs and imposingunrestrained commodification, thereby resulting intoconcentration and centralization of economic, financialand political power in the hands of the few.


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Measures to Enhance Capabilities

of Poor Women Law Reform (Maternity Benefit Act, Family

Leave, Sexual Harassment at Workplace)

Legal Protection for Informal Sector-

Umbrella Legislation-Occupational Health &Safety

Capacity Building and Training

Social Audits of laws, rights Special schemes & programmes for

womens development & empowerment

Gender Budgeting


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Social Audit of Women Workers rights

The Employment Guarantee Scheme needs to be

expanded and improved for urban workers. The focusof such employment schemes can be on buildinginfrastructure, slum development and housing.

The National Renewal Fund should be extended to

cover the unorganized sector and a substantial partshould go into the retraining of workers.

Maternity Benefit for ALL working Mothersirrespective of the number of employees. Crchesshould be provided for children of all workers and notmerely women workers irrespective of the number ofemployees. There could be a common fund for eachindustry.


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Recommendations for strengthening

the SHGs

Financial inclusion of poor women thro state

policies, programmes and schemes

Nurturing grants be released at regular intervals

Pension-linked insurance scheme Banks to release loans thro women friendly

support structures

subsidy be replaced by revolving fund

state level agency to be appointed to train NGOs initiatives and training to bankers for improving

programme delivery mechanism


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Property and Land Rights

As per the UN

Women constitute of worlds population,

do 2/3 of worlds work, in return get 1/10 ofworlds income and 1/100 of worlds wealth.

1. Need for a global campaign

2. To confront gender bias in property laws.Need for gender-just family laws in matters

such as marriage, divorce, custody andguardianship of child, maintenance,womens right to stay in the parental ormatrimonial home


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Social Audit of Budgets The Budget is an important tool in the hands of state for

affirmative action for improvement of gender relations throughreduction of gender gap in the development process. It canhelp to reduce economic inequalities, between men and womenas well as between the rich and the poor.

Pro-poor budgeting, bottom-up budgeting, child budgeting

Green budgeting, local and global implications of pro-poor andpro-women budgeting

Alternative macro scenarios emerging out of alternativebudgets and inter-linkages between gender-sensitive budgeting

and womens empowerment.

Womens Component Plan to assure at least 30% offunds/benefits from all development sectors flow to women.

Capacity building workshops for women in governance


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Affirmative Action by the State

Strengthening of Public Distribution System (PDS)- Food Security

Access to critical resources ( fuel, fodder, water, health-care,nutritious diet)

Education, Health & Housing Rights

Safety nets for women in the subsistence sector of the economy

in terms of loans, infrastructure, storage and transport and statesubsidy and support price for agriculture, animal husbandry,dairy development, horticulture and floriculture.

Environmental Issues: Natural resources, being humankindscommon heritage, must be preserved for the use of actual andfuture generation with the perspective that each human being has

an access to water, air, energy, etc. according to her or his needs.

Commercialisation and privatisation of these resources must bestopped. Biological diversity (flora, fauna, forests, ecosystems)must be preserved and indigenous womens collective wisdommust be recognised, respected and valued


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Need for participatory Development

To meet strategic and practical gender

needs of women, all nations need high

levels of participatory democracy in

governance so that we can enhance

capabilities of poor women and improve

lives and freedoms of poor women.

Reservation of seats for Women in Local

Self Government, legislature and

parliament.


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Thank you

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