TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Aminjonov, Ulugbek
AU  - Bargain, Olivier B.
AU  - Colacce, Maira
        TI  - Global Evidence on Gender Gaps and Child Poverty in Consumption
        PY  - 2025/Mar/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 17767
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/index.php/publications/dp17767
        AB  - Since intra-household resource distribution is unobserved, it is difficult to compare how women and children fare across countries. To address this, we analyze 45 household expenditure surveys from predominantly low- and middle-income countries, i.e. an international sample of around 2.4 million individuals. Using harmonized estimations of intra-household resource sharing, we construct globally comparable measures of gender inequality and child poverty in consumption. Our findings reveal a widespread imbalance: women receive about one-fifth less than men, leading to a 60% higher poverty rate. Children appear to fare even worse, though this is partly explained by differences in needs and sibling economies of scale. Intra-household inequalities are more pronounced in poorer countries and among low-income households within countries. Cross-checks with nutritional proxies tend to validate our results, linking household poverty and intra-household disparities to child undernutrition. Finally, we decompose global individual consumption inequality and find that 13%-32% (across measures) stems from inequality within households.
        KW  - resource sharing
KW  - intra-household inequality
KW  - child poverty
KW  - gender inequality
KW  - scale economies
KW  - nutrition
        ER  -