‘Missing’ Dimensions of Poverty and Gender Sanjeewanie Kariyawasam Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA)

Introduction Poverty is thought to be a multidimensional phenomenon But focus often only on consumption/income dimensions because of lack of survey data Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) on the ‘missing dimensions of poverty’ study – Employment Quality, Empowerment, Dignity, Physical Safety, Subjective and Psychological Wellbeing Survey Module was piloted in Badulla District

Study Frame Methodology – Stratified random sample – Sample size 229 (55% of respondents are females) – For this study, unit of analysis is respondent – Odds ratio analysis and factor analysis to construct deprivation Focus - Is there a gender difference in terms of: – Employment Quality -Having a good and decent job is associated with being out of poverty -Indicators: Protection, Job satisfaction, Discouraged employment – Subjective and Psychological Wellbeing -Not a dimension of poverty, but the expected end-result of development -Indicators: Subjective wellbeing – happiness and life satisfaction Psychological wellbeing – meaning in life, autonomy, competence, relatedness

Employment Quality; Protection Substantially more men are employed than women, though women are slightly better educated – in line with LFS data Low protection (60% deprived) from employment due to informality but study finds no gender difference Indicators of informality of employment MaleFemale Contract type (Casual / temporary) 41.8%40.9% No monthly payment of salary 36.4%35.1% No written contract 53.4%33.5% No sick leave 80.3%94.4% No paid holidays 81.3%94.4% No retirement pension 48.9%42.4% No social security benefits 51.8%42.4%

84% are dissatisfied about their job -two stage composite index, deprived on one or more indicators -More females report experiencing unfair treatment at work than males IndicatorsMaleFemale No respectful treatments 27.00%21.20% Unfair treatments 73.00%93.60% Not making good use of knowledge at work 24.40%10.70% No opportunity to advance and improve at work 62.80%58.20% No satisfying purpose at work 16.5%18.4% Not motivated to give best at work 15.6%12.8% No autonomy to organize self at work 32.1%29.1% Employment Quality; Job satisfaction

Employment Quality; Discouraged employment There is a gender dimension in relation to why people are not employed -\ -Females are not working mainly due to child care and household work -but are they interested but discouraged from looking for work? Types of discouraged employmentMaleFemale Unemployed, but waiting to hear about a job 10%2.6% Not working because of personal reasons such as household tasks, no one to leave children / dependent adults with 0%53.0% Not working because of illness, disability, no interest 14%15.2%

Subjective Wellbeing High levels of reporting of overall happiness across both genders – 90% are very happy or fairly happy – Among women lack of happiness is linked to low socioeconomic wellbeing High levels of life satisfaction across both genders – Over 90% are satisfied with life overall, food, local security, family, dignity, free choice, ability to help others and religion – More women than men are not satisfied with their ability to exercise free choice – Women who are not working are less satisfied about health, education, and work

Psychological Wellbeing 75% of respondents have meaning in their life – Males less positive about having clear meaning in life, satisfactory meaning and clear sense of what gives meaning to life – Higher educational attainments associated with having clear meaning of life irrespective of gender 84% of respondents have autonomy – 10% of both genders said they are not free to decide how to lead own life – Males are less positive about freedom to express ideas and opinions 93% of respondents are positive about their competence – Males less likely to say that others tell them that they are capable and feel a sense of accomplishment – Females are less likely to say that they feel very capable 82% of respondents feel relatedness – More males among those who said deprived

Conclusion Deprivation in terms of employment quality – Gender aspects on discouraged employment only However, there are high levels of subjective and psychological wellbeing – Gender aspects in autonomy, competence and life satisfaction with work, education etc Issues for further consideration Implications for using a single indicator or a dimension to compute generalised ‘deprivation’ Study findings generalisable to Badulla

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