How Do Perceptions of Relative Poverty Affect Women’s Empowerment?

Date modified: 09 January 2020

Employing an established survey treatment to subtly alter respondents’ perception of their relative economic wellbeing, it was noted that increased feelings of relative poverty make both women and men significantly more likely to support girls’ schooling and women’s paid employment, suggesting that relative economic insecurity can prompt support for women’s economic participation. However, increased feelings of relative poverty may trigger greater intra-household tension. While increased perceptions of relative poverty cause women to want more household decision-making authority, men’s attitudes toward women’s roles in decision making are unchanged.

Results underscore the complicated nature of gender attitudes, and how support for women’s economic participation may rise without simultaneous increases in women’s agency in decision making.

Data and Resources

Rating
Issued 2021-12-21T21:50:38.114148
Modified 2020-01-09
DCAT Type Text
Publisher Name
  • Katrina Kosec
  • Cecilia Hyunjung Mo
  • Emily Schmidt
  • Jie Song