Does Poverty Discriminate between Genders? An Examination of Household Poverty in Niger State

Abstract

Gender inequality has been acknowledged as an important factor that is affecting poverty in the world both at the micro and macro levels. Many countries around the world have been battling with the menace of poverty for over decades with no serious achievement on its reduction despite some efforts geared toward it under Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This paper examines the impact of gender equality on household’s poverty reduction in Niger State, Nigeria. It focuses on the micro level of gender equality and how it reduces the level of household’s poverty in Niger State. The study employs a set of household data generated from the administration of structured questionnaire to 479 households in Niger State. The paper investigates the impact of gender equality on household’s poverty reduction in Niger State, Nigeria using Analysis of Moment Structure (AMOS) software and Structural Equation Model (SEM) as method of analysis. The results obtained shows evidence of gender inequality which has significantly affects the living standard of the households of women in the study area. Consequently, fulfilling a priori expectation that gender inequality has negative impact on household’s poverty reduction. The study suggests policy measures that would address household’s poverty reduction and gender inequality through girl-child education and women empowerment programmes in Niger State in particular and Nigeria in general.