Are female-headed households more food insecure? Evidence from Bangladesh

This paper uses household and village-level survey data to investigate the food security of male- and female-headed households in Bangladesh with particular attention to indigenous ethnic groups. The measure of food security is based on the perception of the respondents.

The paper's main findings are:

• no significant differences in the food security between these two types of households
  

• the absence of social and cultural restrictions among the indigenous groups permitting their females greater freedom to participate in the labour force coupled with informal redistributive mechanism is attributed to their improved food security.
  

By estimating the generalised threshold model, no signi?cant di?erences in food security between the male- and female-headed households were found, especially between the indigenous ethnic groups. This ?nding challenges the conventional idea that the female-headed households are more vulnerable to food insecurity. The females among the indigenous groups are culturally permitted greater freedom to participate in the labour force, and they indeed participate at a higher rate than the males. This, coupled with informal redistributive mechanisms among the indigenous ethnic groups, explains the result.

This result is indicative in the sense that non-economic institutions such as the absence of cultural and societal restrictions on women can signi?cantly improve the food security of female-headed households. The result also has important policy implications for those who design and implement anti-poverty policies or micro?nance schemes for diverse ethnic groups not only in Bangladesh but also in similar regions such as North East India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Developmental assistance programmes targeting demographic groups should take into consideration the social and cultural heterogeneity even within a region in a country.