Feminization of poverty in Thailand
What is the Feminization of poverty?
The feminization of poverty is the increasing female proportion of the population who live on low incomes or in poverty. The feminization of poverty is the social process in which the incidence of poverty among women becomes much higher than among men. More specifically, it is an increase in the difference in poverty levels between women and men, or between households headed by females on the one hand, and those headed by males or couples on the other. The term can also be used to mean an increase in poverty due to gender inequalities, this refers more to the feminization of the causes of poverty.http://www.ipc-undp.org/pub/IPCOnePager58.pdf
The Feminization of Poverty and Women’s Human Rights
An examination of the “feminization of poverty” around the world is approached in terms of the three contributing factors that have been underscored in the women-in-development and gender-and-development (WID/GAD) literature: the growth of female-headed households, intra-household inequalities and bias against women and girls, and neoliberal economic policies, including structural adjustments and the post-socialist market transitions. The paper confirms that the poverty-inducing nature of neoliberal restructuring has been especially severe on women. Although the claim that the majority of the world’s poor are women cannot be substantiated, the disadvantaged position of women is incontestable. It should be recognized that the women among the poor suffer doubly from the denial of their human rights, on account of gender inequality and on account of poverty. Therefore, programs to eliminate or alleviate poverty require attention to gender inequality and women’s human rights.http://www.cpahq.org/cpahq/cpadocs/Feminization_of_Poverty.pdf
What Causes the Feminization of Poverty?
1. The temporal dimension- Women are often primarily responsible for childcare and household duties—tasks for which they receive no pay. Women living in developing nations may also be relied upon to participate in exhausting physical and/or agricultural labor to help support the livelihoods of their families and villages. Having so many other responsibilities, these women have less time to devote to paid employment, and consequently earn a smaller income, even though they are effectively doing more work than their male counterparts.
2. The spatial dimension – When employment is sare, women may have to migrate to other areas to find work temporarily. If a woman has children, however, she may be unable to pursue a job that takes her far from her family.
3. The employment segmentation dimension – Being naturally classified as caretakers, women have often been corralled into specific lines of work, such as teaching, caring for children and the elderly, domestic servitude, and factory work such as textile production. These kinds of jobs lack stability, security and a higher income.
4. The valuation dimension – In the same vein, the unpaid labor that women perform in taking care of family members and other household chores is considered of far less worth (at least economically) than positions that require formal education or training.http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~abbat22l/classweb/feminizationofpoverty/causes.html
The Role of the State
The state has an obligation to provide mechanisms for the realization of citizens’ socio-economic
as well as civil and political rights. In theory, the state is entrusted to utilize various forms of revenue
(e.g., taxes, rents, tariffs) to ensure human development. And yet, states’ capacity to willingness to do so varies across the world-system.http://www.cpahq.org/cpahq/cpadocs/Feminization_of_Poverty.pdf
References
Group 12
1. Likasit Sungsuwan 54148010199
2. Sasicha Deebang 54148010204
3. Pinhathai Banphet 54148010231
4. Jiranun Phasuk 54148010345
5. Panurat Auerattanasakulchai 54148010366