This paper uses household surveys from 89 countries to look at gender differences in poverty in the developing world. The paper focuses on the relationship between age, sex and poverty, and finds that, girls and women of reproductive age are more likely to live in poor households (below the international poverty line) than boys and men.

This analysis  provides a glimpse  of  the  richness and  complexity  that  can  be  seen  introducing  a  gender lens to poverty analysis. The findings of this study indicate that incorporating such a lens can provide  important  insights  for  policy  design  which  has,  to  date,  not  included  a  systematic  analysis  of  gender  differences when it comes to policies to eradicate extreme poverty.