Are Women Generally Poorer Than Men Worldwide?
Poverty is not gender-neutral. While men and women both face economic hardship, the evidence is clear: women, on average, are poorer than men across the globe. This inequality is not the result of individual choices alone, but of deeply rooted structural, cultural, and economic systems that shape women’s opportunities and limit their access to wealth.
The Global Gender Pay Gap
Women continue to earn less than men in nearly every country. According to the International Labour Organization, women earn about 20% less than men on average. They are more likely to work in part-time or informal jobs and are underrepresented in leadership roles, which narrows their income potential. Even when women enter the same professions as men, they often face barriers to promotion and lower wages for similar work.
Asset Ownership and Wealth Inequality
Wealth inequality is even starker than income inequality. Men disproportionately own land, property, and financial assets. Historical restrictions on women’s right to inherit or own property—common across cultures and still present in parts of the world—have created lasting wealth gaps. In many countries today, men’s names dominate property deeds and bank accounts, leaving women with little security or collateral for loans.
The Burden of Unpaid Care Work
One of the most significant yet invisible drivers of women’s poverty is unpaid care work. Women perform 76% of unpaid care work globally, including childcare, eldercare, and domestic tasks. This labor, essential for societies to function, is excluded from GDP calculations and goes uncompensated. The time burden prevents millions of women from pursuing full-time careers or entrepreneurial ventures, reinforcing cycles of economic dependence.
Women in Extreme Poverty
The World Bank estimates that women are slightly more likely than men to live in extreme poverty, defined as living on less than $2.15 per day. Single mothers and elderly women are particularly vulnerable, as childcare responsibilities and limited access to pensions expose them to economic precarity. In crisis and conflict zones, women are also more likely to lose livelihoods and face gender-based violence that further limits economic participation.
Financial Inclusion Gaps
Access to finance is another barrier. Around 7% fewer women than men have a bank account worldwide. Women entrepreneurs face systemic disadvantages in securing credit, loans, and venture capital. This lack of access to financial services makes it harder for women to save, invest, or grow businesses, perpetuating cycles of poverty.
The Weight of Intersectionality
The economic gap between men and women is not uniform. Rural women, migrant women, women from ethnic minorities, and women in developing countries face layered disadvantages. For example, female domestic workers—many of them migrants—often endure low pay, lack of labor protections, and exploitation. These overlapping inequalities make poverty even more gendered and entrenched.
Towards Economic Equality
Closing the gender poverty gap requires systemic change. Policy reforms that ensure equal pay, expand childcare support, and recognize unpaid care work are vital. Improving women’s property rights, enhancing access to credit, and investing in female entrepreneurship can shift wealth distribution. Equally important is changing cultural attitudes that confine women to undervalued roles.
Overall
Yes, women are generally poorer than men worldwide. But this is not inevitable. It is the result of social, legal, and economic structures that have historically favored men. Addressing these inequalities is not only a matter of justice but also of economic growth: studies consistently show that empowering women boosts entire economies.
The path forward lies in recognizing the gendered nature of poverty and dismantling the barriers that keep women disproportionately at the bottom of the global wealth ladder.
