How to Navigate U.S. Securities Regulations for Business

One possible explanation for these work patterns is that self-employment can provide women with the flexibility to balance paid work and unpaid care work, even if it results in longer hours and lower earnings on average. Issues surrounding employment and povertyThe rate of income poverty among the world's employed population has seen a decline in recent years, as shown in Table 6. The decrease in poverty rates could be attributed to improved access to higher quality job opportunities, as well as the increasing participation of women in the labor force. In other words, women's employment plays a crucial role in preventing families from falling into poverty. In addition, there has been a notable rise in global remittances from international migrants in recent years (IOM, 2005). 

A commonly used poverty threshold for international comparisons is the poverty line set at one dollar per day. 

Living in a household that earns less than one U.S. dollar per day per person is the criteria for being considered poor. Let's consider the "working poor" as individuals who are employed and reside in households that fall below the poverty line. In 2004, the global working poor population was estimated to be 535 million people, which accounted for 18.8% of world employment, based on the dollar-a-day standard (Kapsos, 2004). In 2003, the proportion of women in the working poor was estimated to be 60 percent, despite making up only 40 percent of the total employment (ILO, 2004b). Put simply, these estimates suggest that employed women are at a higher risk of poverty compared to employed men. There seems to be a notable difference in poverty rates across various employment statuses and types of employment, as indicated by studies conducted by Chen et al. (2005) and Kapungwe (2004). Women often find themselves in job sectors that carry a higher risk of poverty. Nevertheless, when it comes to the disparity in poverty risk between employed men and employed women, there doesn't seem to be a clear pattern within a specific employment category. 

This is despite the fact that there is a gender gap in terms of income from employment (Chen et al., 2005).

This result may appear contradictory, but it can be attributed to the intricate nature of analyzing gender dynamics, employment, and poverty. These complexities arise when examining the relationship between employment status (often studied at the individual level) and poverty status (affected by household-level dynamics). Take, for instance, the idea that when women engage in paid work, it can actually reduce the likelihood of the household falling into income poverty. This is because the extra income from employment plays a significant role in determining whether the household is classified as poor or not. In households where women do not participate in the workforce, there may be an increased vulnerability to poverty. Thus, it is possible that the poverty rate among working women is generally lower than that among working men, despite women being involved in unstable jobs with low pay. In order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the interplay between gender, employment, and poverty, it is crucial to consider the role of the household in the analysis of employment and labor markets. This important aspect will be explored in the following section of this report. Women became a fresh and more affordable source of labor that could replace men's work. Jobs underwent a transformation as they adopted qualities typically associated with work traditionally done by women: wages decreased, labor intensified, opportunities for advancement diminished, and job security became more precarious. This could potentially reduce poverty rates among the working poor in countries where remittances play a significant role, regardless of the quality of domestic employment opportunities. 

The feminization of labor and poverty

In recent years, two significant discourses have emerged that have influenced our understanding of the connections between women's paid work, employment, and the risk of poverty: the discourse on the increasing presence of women in the labor force and the discourse on the disproportionate representation of women among the impoverished. These analyses were formulated during a time of global integration and economic liberalization, which greatly shaped the way experts examine the social aspects of globalization. Specifically, they focus on how globalization has impacted the economic experiences of women. Nevertheless, the conventional definitions of these discourses have significant drawbacks that could potentially hinder our understanding of the connections between employment and poverty. It is crucial to thoroughly examine the connections between the feminization of labor and poverty. The framework of the "feminization of labor," as initially proposed by Standing (1989), centers on the notable rise in women's participation in the workforce, which was discussed and documented in the previous section. Women's participation in the workforce has been linked to the rise in flexible work arrangements, the increase in informal employment, and the decline in overall job quality.