ABSTRACT
Two assumptions underlie assertions about energy and poverty: firstly, that the poor form a homogeneous group; and secondly, that the poor will benefit equally from energy interventions. Work on poverty has increasingly recognized that the poor are not homogeneous. Indeed, the poor have multiple identities differentiated in terms of a number of social characteristics including gender. The poor vary not only in terms of the extent of their poverty but also their reasons for being poor. The processes through which people become poor have a distinct gender dimension (Narayan 1999). For men, unemployment and illness (which can be linked) are common reasons for entering poverty. For women, divorce, widowhood, and desertion are cited reasons. The routes out of poverty for women and men are different due to their different assets. Women tend to be more disadvantaged than men in similar circumstances; for example, women’s access and control over assets such as land, cash, and credit is more limited than men’s. Women’s technical skills are often less than men’s; for example, compared to men, women’s reading levels are lower and they have less experience with hardware (WDR 2012).
