Publication: How Does Poverty Differ among Refugees? Taking a Gender Lens to the Data on Syrian Refugees in Jordan
Loading...
Files in English
332 downloads
Date
2020-05-12
ISSN
1793-8120
Published
2020-05-12
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Many reports document the hardships experienced by refugees, highlighting that women and children are a highly vulnerable group. However, empirical analysis of how gender inequality impacts poverty among refugees is limited. We combine registration data for Syrian refugees in Jordan collected by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees with data from its Home Visit surveys to analyze income poverty rates among refugee households. We use an approach that captures the disruption to household structures that results from displacement to evaluate the poverty impacts, comparing refugee households with male and female principal applicants (PAs). We find that distinguishing between different types of principal applicant households is important. Half of the female PAs for nonnuclear households live below the poverty line compared to only one-fifth of male PAs for nonnuclear household. PAs who are widows and widowers also face high poverty risks. Households that have formed because of the unpredictable dynamics of forced displacement, such as unaccompanied children and single caregivers, emerge as extremely vulnerable groups. We show that differences in household composition and individual attributes of male and female PAs are not the only factors driving increased poverty risk. Gender-specific barriers which prevent women accessing labor markets are also a factor. Our findings show that gender inequality amplifies the poverty experienced by a significant number of refugees. Our approach can be used to help policy-makers design more effective programs of assistance and find durable solutions for displaced populations.
Link to Data Set
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Citations
- Cited 9 times in Scopus (view citations)
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication How Does Poverty Differ Among Refugees? Taking a Gender Lens to the Data on Syrian Refugees in Jordan(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-10)Data collected for refugee registration and to target humanitarian assistance include information about household composition and demographics that can be used to identify gender-based vulnerabilities. This paper combines the microdata collected by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to register refugees with data from its Home Visit surveys to analyze income poverty rates among refugees with a gender lens. It finds distinguishing between different types of male and female principal applicant (PA) households is important in the setting of Syrian refugees in Jordan. Poverty rates for couples with children do not differ by gender of the PA but for other household types poverty rates are higher for those with female PAs. Households formed because of the unpredictable dynamics of forced displacement, such as sibling households, unaccompanied children, and single caregivers, are extremely vulnerable, especially if the principal applicant is a woman or a girl.Publication The Impact of Protracted Displacement on Syrian Refugees in Jordan(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-09)This paper examines the influence of gender inequality on poverty among Syrian refugees in Jordan between 2013 and 2018. Two waves of Home-Visit surveys, collected by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, are analyzed to track the evolution of poverty among Syrian refugees in Jordan. To compare changes in poverty between female- and male-headed households, the paper uses relative comparisons of deciles in the expenditure distribution and quantile regressions. The analysis adjusts the poverty measure for economies of scale as the cost per person of maintaining a given standard of living may fall as household size rises. The findings show that the spending distribution has shifted over time, negatively affecting female-headed households. In 2013, female-headed households below the median had lower expenditure than male-headed households. In 2018, this pattern occurs in all deciles. The findings also show small differences between poverty rates of female- and male-headed households whether the poverty measure is adjusted for economies of scale or not. Regardless of the poverty measure, the poverty gender gap has increased over time, with female-headed households experiencing poverty more intensely. Female single caregivers remain at the most risk of falling into poverty when compared with other types of households and over time. This approach can help policy makers design more effective programs of assistance that respond to gender-based differences in vulnerability to poverty and find durable solutions for displaced populations.Publication Differences in Household Composition(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-10)Little is known about how gender inequality influences poverty rates of forcibly displaced people. This paper uses a nationally representative survey to analyze poverty among internally displaced people and non-displaced people in Somalia. More than half of internally displaced people’s households and 47 percent of non-displaced people’s households are female headed. Although poverty rates are higher among internally displaced people than non-displaced people (77 versus 66 percent), male-headed households are poorer than female-headed ones among both groups. Extending the analysis beyond headship to demographic characteristics and by the gender and number of earners provides a more nuanced picture. Demographic characteristics are strongly associated with poverty rates for internally displaced people but not for non-displaced people. Having more income earners reduces poverty risk for all households. For internally displaced people’s households, the largest decrease in poverty risk is associated with having more female earners, while having more male earners is associated with the lowest poverty for nondisplaced people’s households. The analysis highlights that poverty reduction policies and programs must cover all households and lift barriers to women’s economic opportunities. Programs that respond to women’s care responsibilities and address barriers to women’s economic opportunities are especially important for internally displaced people.Publication Effect of Armed Conflict on Intimate Partner Violence(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-03)Intimate partner violence is the most common form of violence against women in conflict and non-conflict settings, but in conflict settings it often receives less attention than other forms of gender-based violence, such as conflict-related sexual violence. Using data from the 2008 and 2013 Domestic Violence module of the Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey spatially linked to the Boko Haram actor file of the Armed Conflict Location and Events Database, this paper employs a kernel-based difference-in-difference model to examine the effect of the Boko Haram insurgency on women's experience of physical and sexual intimate partner violence. It also examines the effect of the Boko Haram insurgency on women's experience of controlling behavior from a husband or partner, women's autonomy in household decision making, and their control over their own earnings. The paper finds that the Boko Haram insurgency is associated with slower progress toward preventing and eliminating women's experiences of physical and sexual intimate partner violence. Controlling behaviors from husbands/partners and reductions in women's autonomy in household decision making are heightened in locations that are impacted by the Boko Haram insurgency, indicating that the Boko Haram insurgency adversely affects women's agency and exacerbates behaviors that are often precursors to intimate partner violence.Publication Addressing the Needs of Women and Girls in Contexts of Forced Displacement(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019)This review focuses on women and girls who have been forcibly displaced. Gender inequality is not left behind when women and girls are forced to flee their homes. In situations of displacement, women and girls are most exposed to adversity, and many of the risks they face, such as gender-based violence, are heightened. Women are among the most vulnerable, facing a number of challenges including extreme poverty, lack of access to basic infrastructure and services, and the impacts of climate change on livelihoods and human well-being. Internalized inequality can limit women's ability to overcome adverse experiences. With that in mind, World Bank projects must consider the different circumstances of women and girls/men and boys to deliver benefits to those that need them most. The objective of this portfolio review is twofold: (i) to assess how World Bank operations to date have addressed the different needs of forcibly displaced women and girls/men and boys in fragile, conflict, and violence (FCV) contexts; and (ii) to distill lessons and guidance for task teams, including those designing operations under the new International Development Association (IDA18) refugee window and the Global Concessional Financing Facility (GCFF). The review is limited to considering how the needs of women and girls have been addressed, as no operations were found that identified gender specific needs of forcibly displaced men and boys, or sought to close gender gaps that affected these men and boys adversely.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Digital Progress and Trends Report 2023(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-03-05)Digitalization is the transformational opportunity of our time. The digital sector has become a powerhouse of innovation, economic growth, and job creation. Value added in the IT services sector grew at 8 percent annually during 2000–22, nearly twice as fast as the global economy. Employment growth in IT services reached 7 percent annually, six times higher than total employment growth. The diffusion and adoption of digital technologies are just as critical as their invention. Digital uptake has accelerated since the COVID-19 pandemic, with 1.5 billion new internet users added from 2018 to 2022. The share of firms investing in digital solutions around the world has more than doubled from 2020 to 2022. Low-income countries, vulnerable populations, and small firms, however, have been falling behind, while transformative digital innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI) have been accelerating in higher-income countries. Although more than 90 percent of the population in high-income countries was online in 2022, only one in four people in low-income countries used the internet, and the speed of their connection was typically only a small fraction of that in wealthier countries. As businesses in technologically advanced countries integrate generative AI into their products and services, less than half of the businesses in many low- and middle-income countries have an internet connection. The growing digital divide is exacerbating the poverty and productivity gaps between richer and poorer economies. The Digital Progress and Trends Report series will track global digitalization progress and highlight policy trends, debates, and implications for low- and middle-income countries. The series adds to the global efforts to study the progress and trends of digitalization in two main ways: · By compiling, curating, and analyzing data from diverse sources to present a comprehensive picture of digitalization in low- and middle-income countries, including in-depth analyses on understudied topics. · By developing insights on policy opportunities, challenges, and debates and reflecting the perspectives of various stakeholders and the World Bank’s operational experiences. This report, the first in the series, aims to inform evidence-based policy making and motivate action among internal and external audiences and stakeholders. The report will bring global attention to high-performing countries that have valuable experience to share as well as to areas where efforts will need to be redoubled.Publication Crypto-Assets Activity around the World(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2022-03-08)On-chain crypto-assets transaction volumes have grown rapidly, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Crypto-assets activity appears to be a global phenomenon, although it still remains modest relative to gross domestic product for most countries. Panel regressions across more than 130 countries show that the variation in countries’ monthly crypto volumes is mostly driven by globally relevant factors such as real U.S. longer-term inflation expectations, U.S. real Treasury yields, and gold and crypto-asset prices, rather than recent country-level macroeconomic developments. Cross-sectional regressions offer tentative evidence that crypto activity is higher in countries with higher information and communications technology adoption and higher reliance on remittances. Taken together, the findings shed new light on the drivers behind crypto activity and offer support to the notions that crypto-assets are perceived as a risk asset, a potential macro hedge, and a potential tool to support cross-border transactions. However, the results come with caveats: a significant portion of the sample period includes extraordinarily loose global financial conditions; the crypto volume data have a short history, rely on important limiting assumptions, and do not represent all crypto activity; and crypto-assets represent a fast-evolving, increasingly diverse asset class and industry.Publication World Development Report 2004(World Bank, 2003)Too often, services fail poor people in access, in quality, and in affordability. But the fact that there are striking examples where basic services such as water, sanitation, health, education, and electricity do work for poor people means that governments and citizens can do a better job of providing them. Learning from success and understanding the sources of failure, this year’s World Development Report, argues that services can be improved by putting poor people at the center of service provision. How? By enabling the poor to monitor and discipline service providers, by amplifying their voice in policymaking, and by strengthening the incentives for providers to serve the poor. Freedom from illness and freedom from illiteracy are two of the most important ways poor people can escape from poverty. To achieve these goals, economic growth and financial resources are of course necessary, but they are not enough. The World Development Report provides a practical framework for making the services that contribute to human development work for poor people. With this framework, citizens, governments, and donors can take action and accelerate progress toward the common objective of poverty reduction, as specified in the Millennium Development Goals.Publication What Is a Civil War? A Critical Review of Its Definition and (Econometric) Consequences(Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank, 2013-08-01)We argue that the academic literature, both qualitative and quantitative, has mislabeled most episodes of large-scale violence in Africa as civil wars; these episodes better fit our concept of regional war complexes. Our paper seeks to highlight the fundamental flaws in the conception of civil war in the econometric literature and their implications for econometric specification and estimation, problems that this literature is inherently incapable of rectifying. We advocate the comparative study of regional war complexes in Africa based on historical narratives.Publication Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2016(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2016-10-02)Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2016 is the first of an annual flagship report that will inform a global audience comprising development practitioners, policy makers, researchers, advocates, and citizens in general with the latest and most accurate estimates on trends in global poverty and shared prosperity. This edition will also document trends in inequality and identify recent country experiences that have been successful in reducing inequalities, provide key lessons from those experiences, and synthesize the rigorous evidence on public policies that can shift inequality in a way that bolsters poverty reduction and shared prosperity in a sustainable manner. Specifically, the report will address the following questions: • What is the latest evidence on the levels and evolution of extreme poverty and shared prosperity? • Which countries and regions have been more successful in terms of progress toward the twin goals and which are lagging behind? • What does the global context of lower economic growth mean for achieving the twin goals? • How can inequality reduction contribute to achieving the twin goals? • What does the evidence show concerning global and between- and within-country inequality trends? • Which interventions and countries have used the most innovative approaches to achieving the twin goals through reductions in inequality? The report will make four main contributions. First, it will present the most recent numbers on poverty, shared prosperity, and inequality. Second, it will stress the importance of inequality reduction in ending poverty and boosting shared prosperity by 2030 in a context of weaker growth. Third, it will highlight the diversity of within-country inequality reduction experiences and will synthesize experiences of successful countries and policies, addressing the roots of inequality without compromising economic growth. In doing so, the report will shatter some myths and sharpen our knowledge of what works in reducing inequalities. Finally, it will also advocate for the need to expand and improve data collection—for example, data availability, comparability, and quality—and rigorous evidence on inequality impacts in order to deliver high-quality poverty and shared prosperity monitoring.