Milazzo, Annamariavan de Walle, Dominique2015-07-172015-07-172015-06https://hdl.handle.net/10986/22212This paper is motivated by two stylized facts about poverty in Africa: female-headed households tend to be poorer, and poverty has been falling in the aggregate since the 1990s. These facts raise two questions: How have female-headed households fared? And what role have they played in Africas impressive recent aggregate growth and poverty reduction? Using data covering the entire region, the paper reexamines the current prevalence and characteristics of female-headed households, and asks whether their prevalence has been rising over time, what factors have been associated with such changes since the mid-1990s, and whether poverty has fallen equi-proportionately for male- and female-headed households. Rising gross domestic product has dampened rising female headship. However, other subtle transformations occurring across Africa—changes in marriage behavior, family formation, health, and education—have put upward pressure on female headship, with the result that the share of female-headed households has been growing. This has been happening alongside declining aggregate poverty incidence. However, rather than being left behind, female-headed households have generally seen faster poverty reduction. As a whole, this group has contributed almost as much to the reduction in poverty as male-headed households, despite the smaller share of female-headed households in the population.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOSANITATIONLIVING STANDARDSPER CAPITA CONSUMPTIONFEMALE EDUCATIONHOUSEHOLD SURVEYHOUSEHOLD SIZECONSUMPTION EXPENDITURESSOCIAL NORMSPOVERTY LINEECONOMIC GROWTHGENDER INEQUALITYKINSHIPURBANIZATIONLOCAL ECONOMYSPOUSEINCOMEFAMILY STRUCTUREPOVERTY RATESEMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIESFAMILY WELFARELIVESTOCK PRODUCTIONRESOURCE ALLOCATIONLABOR FORCEFEMALE LIFE EXPECTANCYDEVELOPING COUNTRIESSINGLE MOTHERHOODPUBLIC SERVICESDEMOGRAPHIC FACTORSFOOD POLICYIMPACT ON CHILDRENPOLICY DISCUSSIONSPOOR PEOPLEVULNERABILITYFEMALE- HEADED HOUSEHOLDSCONFLICTMEASURESPOVERTY MEASURESSINGLE MOTHERSLIFE EXPECTANCYINTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTEPOVERTY REDUCTIONKNOWLEDGEARMED CONFLICTSOCIAL IMPACTSURVIVAL ADVANTAGEDEVELOPMENT PLANNINGPOPULATION DIVISIONPOVERTY INCIDENCEMIGRATIONTRANSFERSAGE DISTRIBUTIONECONOMIC CHANGESINTERNATIONAL POVERTY LINEHIV INFECTIONHOUSEHOLD SURVEYSMARRIAGECULTURAL CHANGEDEPENDENCY RATIODEPENDENCY RATIOSNATURAL RESOURCESGROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTCURRENT POPULATIONAGE AT MARRIAGEMORTALITYHOUSEHOLD HEADSSTATUS OF WOMENRESPECTPROGRESSUNIONSAIDS DEATHSSCHOOL YEARHUMAN CAPITALINFANTMIGRANTFOOD SECURITYFEWER YEARS OF EDUCATIONPOVERTY COMPARISONSPOLICIESPOPULATION STUDIESFEMALE-HEADED HOUSEHOLDSHIVPOLYGAMYWOMANPOLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPERECONOMIC STATUSDIVORCEDEMOGRAPHIC CHANGEFAMILY FORMATIONSMALLER HOUSEHOLDSURBAN AREASKIDSPOPULATION COUNCILRURALNUTRITIONPOPULATIONSEDUCATION OF WOMENBULLETINPOPULATION ESTIMATESPOLICYCHILD MORTALITYHUSBANDSSOCIAL AFFAIRSSEXTARGETINGHUMAN RIGHTSMINORITYHOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION PER CAPITAWORLD POPULATIONPOVERTYFEMALE LABOR FORCEFIRST MARRIAGEINCIDENCE OF POVERTYHOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTIONPOPULATIONMARITAL STATUSPOOR LIVINGHOUSEHOLD WELFAREMARRIED WOMENPOLICY RESEARCHPOORFERTILITYWOMENNEWBORNREMITTANCESLABOR MARKETSAIDSPOVERTY ASSESSMENTSURBAN POPULATIONIMPACT OF AIDSPEACELEGAL RIGHTSEXTENDED FAMILYPOVERTY INCREASEDEVELOPMENT POLICYHUMAN DEVELOPMENTINEQUALITYSANITATION FACILITIESWorking PaperWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-7331