2.D. Women
Unlike children and youth, using the same data and methodology,
the distribution of income at the global level does not appear to
have a disproportionate, negative impact on women (Figure 9).
When examining the percentage of females across global income
distribution quintiles, we find that the dispersion is, in fact, nearly
equal, with each income quintile containing about 20% of the global
female population. Given that the female-to-male ratio was about
1:1 as of 2007,^30 this comes as little surprise. This finding remains
unchanged even when further restricting the global female
population to girls and young women: about half of women 24
years old or younger are situated in the bottom two income
quintiles, which mirrors the proportion of children and youth as
presented in Figure 8.^31
In sum, using this methodology, the global distribution of income
has a much stronger impact on age than gender, largely reflecting
higher fertility rates among poorer women. This is not to say that
intra-household income disparities don’t exist; however, based on
the available aggregate income data at the global level, it is not
possible to identify the dispersion of income among household
members. It should be noted that this does not imply that other
gender and age-related disparities do not exist. In fact, UNICEF has
long advocated for a multidimensional approach to addressing
inequalities beyond income, such as education, nutrition, health,
information, etc.^32
Still, the numbers of adult women and girls living in poverty are
alarming. As of 2007, roughly 20% of women were below the
$1.25/day international poverty line, and 40% below the $2/day
mark. Girls and younger women also suffer disproportionately from
poverty, as more than one-quarter of females under the age of 25
were below the $1.25/day international poverty line, and about half
on less than $2/day.
(^30) According to United Nations (2009), females slighted outnumbered males
globally in 2007—51.1% to 48.9%.
(^31) These findings apply to both the inter-country and global accounting models.
(^32) Please visit the following website for more information:
http://www.unicef.org/gender/index.html.