Selected Publications

Abstract

This paper investigates the gender dimensions of poverty in Egypt and examines the factors that
contribute to poverty for different household types. Furthermore, it decomposes the poverty
differential between household types into a component due to endowments and another due to the
return to these endowments. I use data from five Household Income, Expenditure and
Consumption Surveys, that span a period of far reaching economic, social and political changes,
from 1999 to 2013. Results suggest that female headed households were poorer than male headed
households for all years under study in urban areas; and slightly less poor over part of the period in
rural areas. This difference is greater for widowed mothers. Most of the poverty differentials
between female-headed and male-headed households cannot be explained by differences in
endowments in all years. In fact, if female headed households had the same endowments as male
headed households in urban areas they would have been poorer than they already were. This
suggests the need for policies that focus on ensuring more equitable returns to endowments for
female headed households.