Webinar: Feminization Of Poverty In Venezuela

Friday, October 16, 10:00am Caracas time (-5hrs BST) .

Poverty hits women harder than men. Globally, women are paid on average 24% less than men, work longer hours and do twice as much unpaid work within the home (Oxfam). COVID-19 has worsened this situation, and by 2030 poverty levels are expected to increase by 12.6% among women, twice as much as among men (6.6%) (UN Women). Focusing on Latin America, we find that over 51% of poor people are women and one in three women have no income of their own. Here too, COVID-19 has come to accentuate this problem, standing to set the region back 10 years in terms of women\’s participation in the labour market, as high-risk sectors (restaurants, retail, entertainment) account for around 57.2% of female employment (ECLAC).

In Venezuela, the situation is alarming. There has been a 70% fall in GDP between 2013 and 2019 and the average daily income is less than 1 dollar – USD $0.72. Of the 1 million people who have been forced to leave the country annually since 2017, men predominate. This means millions of women have been left alone to run households.  Currently, food supplies have become a major concern for 93% of the population. 72.7% of the country’s poorest households are headed by women, and 3 out of 7 families are severely food insecure. COVID-19 is only deepening this crisis (ENCOVI).