Feminisation of Poverty and Female Headed Households Due to Land Loss and Male Migration (India)

Abstract

The feminisation of poverty in India describes the uneven way poverty is concentrated and experienced by women because of structural gender inequality in assets, work, and social protection. In rural settings, land loss and male migration intensify this process by shifting responsibility for survival onto women while keeping control over land, income, and institutions largely in male hands. Land is the central asset in rural India. When women do not have secure ownership or inheritance rights, they remain excluded from credit, subsidies, insurance, and recognition as farmers, even when they are the primary cultivators. This creates a poverty trap: women carry the burden of agricultural work and household reproduction, but without land titles they cannot easily convert labour into economic security. Recent studies also show that male migration is now a common livelihood strategy in agriculture-dependent households facing poverty, food insecurity, and climate stress, but its benefits are highly uneven. This paper aims to study the phenomena of Feminisation of poverty and increase of Female headed households due to loss of land and male migration ( 1970s to latest secondary research). Case of UP and Bihar are also presented. Secondary sources are used for this paper.