Women's Legal Rights and Gender Gaps in Property Ownership in Developing Countries
Women's property ownership matters for their well-being and agency; it can also advance economic prosperity and promote the human development of future generations. Yet, until recently, lack of data has constrained researchers from gaining a c...
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2020
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/601621603199863261/Womens-Legal-Rights-and-Gender-Gaps-in-Property-Ownership-in-Developing-Countries http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34652 |
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okr-10986-346522022-09-20T00:09:43Z Women's Legal Rights and Gender Gaps in Property Ownership in Developing Countries Gaddis, Isis Lahoti, Rahul Swaminathan, Hema GENDER GAP GENDER BIAS LEGAL DISCRIMINATION PROPERTY OWNERSHIP INTRA-HOUSEHOLD INEQUALITY PROPERTY RIGHTS WOMEN'S AGENCY DEMOGRAPHIC AND HEALTH SURVEY Women's property ownership matters for their well-being and agency; it can also advance economic prosperity and promote the human development of future generations. Yet, until recently, lack of data has constrained researchers from gaining a comprehensive overview of gender differences in property ownership in the developing world. Using Demographic and Health Survey data from 41 developing countries, this paper seeks to fill this gap, by investigating the extent of gender gaps in the incidence of property ownership (land and housing) and the factors associated with these gaps, focusing on the role of legal systems. The study finds that there is substantial variation in gender gaps across countries, but in almost all countries men are more likely to own property than women. Within countries, gender gaps are most pronounced for groups that are already disadvantaged, that is, the rural population and the poorest quintile. The disadvantage in property ownership experienced by women reflects a variety of factors, including discriminatory norms and laws on inheritance, property ownership, marital regimes, and protection from workplace discrimination. Countries with more gender egalitarian legal regimes generally have higher levels of property ownership by women, especially housing. These results suggest that reforms to establish a more gender-equitable legislative framework could be an important mechanism to increase women's property ownership. 2020-10-22T17:44:20Z 2020-10-22T17:44:20Z 2020-10 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/601621603199863261/Womens-Legal-Rights-and-Gender-Gaps-in-Property-Ownership-in-Developing-Countries http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34652 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9444 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
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Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
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World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
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World Bank |
| language |
English |
| topic |
GENDER GAP GENDER BIAS LEGAL DISCRIMINATION PROPERTY OWNERSHIP INTRA-HOUSEHOLD INEQUALITY PROPERTY RIGHTS WOMEN'S AGENCY DEMOGRAPHIC AND HEALTH SURVEY |
| spellingShingle |
GENDER GAP GENDER BIAS LEGAL DISCRIMINATION PROPERTY OWNERSHIP INTRA-HOUSEHOLD INEQUALITY PROPERTY RIGHTS WOMEN'S AGENCY DEMOGRAPHIC AND HEALTH SURVEY Gaddis, Isis Lahoti, Rahul Swaminathan, Hema Women's Legal Rights and Gender Gaps in Property Ownership in Developing Countries |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9444 |
| description |
Women's property ownership matters
for their well-being and agency; it can also advance
economic prosperity and promote the human development of
future generations. Yet, until recently, lack of data has
constrained researchers from gaining a comprehensive
overview of gender differences in property ownership in the
developing world. Using Demographic and Health Survey data
from 41 developing countries, this paper seeks to fill this
gap, by investigating the extent of gender gaps in the
incidence of property ownership (land and housing) and the
factors associated with these gaps, focusing on the role of
legal systems. The study finds that there is substantial
variation in gender gaps across countries, but in almost all
countries men are more likely to own property than women.
Within countries, gender gaps are most pronounced for groups
that are already disadvantaged, that is, the rural
population and the poorest quintile. The disadvantage in
property ownership experienced by women reflects a variety
of factors, including discriminatory norms and laws on
inheritance, property ownership, marital regimes, and
protection from workplace discrimination. Countries with
more gender egalitarian legal regimes generally have higher
levels of property ownership by women, especially housing.
These results suggest that reforms to establish a more
gender-equitable legislative framework could be an important
mechanism to increase women's property ownership. |
| format |
Working Paper |
| author |
Gaddis, Isis Lahoti, Rahul Swaminathan, Hema |
| author_facet |
Gaddis, Isis Lahoti, Rahul Swaminathan, Hema |
| author_sort |
Gaddis, Isis |
| title |
Women's Legal Rights and Gender Gaps in Property Ownership in Developing Countries |
| title_short |
Women's Legal Rights and Gender Gaps in Property Ownership in Developing Countries |
| title_full |
Women's Legal Rights and Gender Gaps in Property Ownership in Developing Countries |
| title_fullStr |
Women's Legal Rights and Gender Gaps in Property Ownership in Developing Countries |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Women's Legal Rights and Gender Gaps in Property Ownership in Developing Countries |
| title_sort |
women's legal rights and gender gaps in property ownership in developing countries |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2020 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/601621603199863261/Womens-Legal-Rights-and-Gender-Gaps-in-Property-Ownership-in-Developing-Countries http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34652 |
| _version_ |
1764481358528249856 |