Chronic Poverty and Understanding Intra-Household Differentiation

Abstract

Until recently the household was taken to be an undifferentiated entity for the purposes of data collection and social and economic analysis. Even where researchers want to look at intra-household differentiation it can be difficult due to inadequate individual level data on dietary intake, anthropometric measures, decision-making, time allocation, etc. An examination of the intra-household dynamics is capable of highlighting how resources are generated, controlled and distributed in a household. What detail is lost if we use the household as our main unit of analysis in the Chronic Poverty Research Centre? How important is this for policy makers, planners and practitioners, when we use the household as a unit?

Keywords: Concepts, Gender, Livelihoods, Methodology, Household Surveys