Document Abstract
Published:
2008
Gender and asset ownership: a guide to collecting individual-level data
Ownership and control over assets such as land and housing provide direct and indirect benefits to individuals and households, including a secure place to live, the means of a livelihood, protection during emergencies, and collateral for credit that can be used for investment or consumption. However the gender dimensions of asset ownership at either micro or macro levels is often overlooked within research. Therefore the fact that women in many countries are far less likely than men to have ownership or control of productive assets is often missed.
This paper sets out a framework for researchers who are interested in collecting data on individual level asset ownership and analysing the gender asset gap. Following the introduction section two highlights the main policy issues and research questions that can be addressed with individual data on asset ownership, showing why this data is important for understanding poverty reduction, social welfare, and economic growth as well as for constructing an indicator of countries’ progress toward the Millennium Development Goal of gender equality and women’s empowerment (MDG3). The third section summarises previous research on the gender asset gap in developing countries and provides an analysis of the legal context with respect to women’s ownership and acquisition of assets. The fourth section reviews the best practices in existing surveys with respect to data collection on assets at both the household and individual levels.
The fifth section shows how various subsets of questions on individually owned assets can be incorporated with a minimum of effort and cost into existing multi-topic household surveys, using examples of three Living Standard Measurement Study surveys: the 1998-99 Ghana LSMS, the 2000 Guatemala LSMS, and the 1997-98 Vietnam LSMS questionnaires. For example, questions about the sources and timing of housing acquisition enable researchers to analyse the age and gender patterns of housing acquisition, which can shed light on security of tenure. Such questions may also help identify how policies and institutions can better serve women, for instance, reforming credit policies for home ownership or allocating funds for legal literacy so that women are informed about their marital or inheritance rights.
This paper sets out a framework for researchers who are interested in collecting data on individual level asset ownership and analysing the gender asset gap. Following the introduction section two highlights the main policy issues and research questions that can be addressed with individual data on asset ownership, showing why this data is important for understanding poverty reduction, social welfare, and economic growth as well as for constructing an indicator of countries’ progress toward the Millennium Development Goal of gender equality and women’s empowerment (MDG3). The third section summarises previous research on the gender asset gap in developing countries and provides an analysis of the legal context with respect to women’s ownership and acquisition of assets. The fourth section reviews the best practices in existing surveys with respect to data collection on assets at both the household and individual levels.
The fifth section shows how various subsets of questions on individually owned assets can be incorporated with a minimum of effort and cost into existing multi-topic household surveys, using examples of three Living Standard Measurement Study surveys: the 1998-99 Ghana LSMS, the 2000 Guatemala LSMS, and the 1997-98 Vietnam LSMS questionnaires. For example, questions about the sources and timing of housing acquisition enable researchers to analyse the age and gender patterns of housing acquisition, which can shed light on security of tenure. Such questions may also help identify how policies and institutions can better serve women, for instance, reforming credit policies for home ownership or allocating funds for legal literacy so that women are informed about their marital or inheritance rights.
