A Characterization of Female Poverty in Mexico Based on the Collective Household Model

Abstract

As requested by eclac (2004), this text examines the evidence on female poverty in Mexico and its cause, based on the National Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2008. Poverty is measured by taking into account a more realistic consideration about the resources available to women, for which the collective household model is applied. The article provides descriptive statistics showing the link between male to female poverty and other social divisions. The author subsequently constructs a model to determine the specific importance in the explanation of female poverty of the three mechanisms that distribute resources in society: the market, the state and the family.