Data from the developing world show a strong correlation between female household headship and poverty, due largely to the status of women in society. Household members suffer the direct effects of poverty such as malnourishment, disease, and violence, and they are often forced to trade off schooling for work. On the other hand, research in the peripheral countries shows a greater devotion of women's income to household needs, a more egalitarian distribution of domestic chores, and a less violent domestic environment. This has opened up to debate the issue of the effect of female headship on women's and household poverty. This project will involve comparative research on the link between women and poverty in two Mexican cities. It will examine the circumstances under which female headship arises and the mechanisms by which these households fall into or break out of poverty. Data will be collected for both female and non-female headed households in two different urban cultural environments. Both structured and unstructured interviews as well as ethnographic data on labor and household histories will form the basis for the analysis. Analysis will be performed with special software designed for exploring patterns and themes in ethnographic data. Results of this research will add new knowledge on the relationship between household structure and poverty in developing countries. It will provide important insights into the position of women in society, the labor market, and the home. It will also fill in important gaps in knowledge about female headed households in Latin America, an area of rapid demographic and social change.
