Gender, Poverty and the Intra‐household Distribution of Resources

Most empirical studies of poverty assume an equal sharing of resources between all household members. There is a growing body of research indicating that this assumption is not realistic. This paper explores how the unequal sharing of resources could potentially affect the measurement of poverty. Simulations based on micro‐data from two countries (Italy and the U.S.A.) are carried out under the assumption that women “lose” and men and children “gain” because of unequal sharing in the household. Our findings suggest that if there is significant intra‐household inequality of this type, as some writers have suggested, then conventional methods of poverty measurement will likely to lead to a serious under‐estimate (over‐estimate) of the incidence and intensity of female (male) poverty.