Sharing the Pie: Undernutrition, Intra-Household Allocation, and Poverty

Abstract

Anti-poverty policies often aim to reach poor individuals by targeting poor households. However, intra-household inequality may mean many poor individuals reside in non-poor households. Using Bangladeshi data, we first show that undernourished individuals are spread across the household per-capita expenditure distribution. We then quantify the extent of food and total consumption inequality within families. Based on a collective model, we develop a new methodology to compute individual-level poverty rates that account for intra-household inequality. We show that women, children, and the elderly face significant probabilities of living in poverty even in households with per-capita expenditure above the poverty threshold.

Keywords: Intra-Household Resource Allocation, Poverty, Collective Model, Undernutrition, Bangladesh

JEL Classification: D1, I31, I32, J12, J13, O12, O15