GENDER DIFFERENTIAL AND POVERTY AMONGST WOMEN IN TAMBUWAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF SOKOTO STATE - NIGERIA

Abstract

It is believed that gender-based poverty is one of the characters of Nigerian society and that there is increased feminization of poverty in the country particularly in the rural areas. Against this background, the paper examined the gender dimension of poverty among women in Tambuwal Local Government Area (LGA) of Sokoto State. The research made used of primary data and it was collected from 100 respondents in the study area using structured questionnaires in form of interview scheduled; Multi stage sampling technique was adopted in selecting the respondents for the study. Descriptive results were analyzed using frequency and percentages and inferential method of analysis was conducted using OLS regression Method. The results revealed that, the value of education, age, marital status, occupation and asset holding were all having statistical significant positive relationship with welfare and negative with poverty, except the non-linearity effect of the age squared which disclose a statistical significant negative relationship, suggesting that, welfare increases with age but declines eventually at old age. Therefore, the study recommended an increase in investment in education and the creation of more job opportunities as these would go long way in enhancing higher standards of living, reducing the level of poverty and raising per capita consumption expenditure of women in the study area.