Présentation de Khalid Abu Ismail, Conseiller en pauvreté et macroéconomie, Bureau régional du PNUD Caire, Egypte, à la Conférence Internationale d'Experts sur la mesure et les approches politiques pour améliorer l'équité pour les nouvelles générations dans la région MENA à Rabat, Maroc du 22 au 23 mai 2012.

1. RETHINKING POVERTY AND
INEQUALITY MEASUREMENT IN
ARAB COUNTRIES
Khalid Abu-Ismail
Measurement and Policy Approaches to Enhance Equity for the New
Generations in the Middle East and North Africa, UNICEF,
Rabat 22 - 23 May 1

2. Outline of
Presentation
1. Rethinking Money Metric Poverty
Measurement
2. The Paradox of Growth and Inequality
in Arab countries
3. Other facets of inequality
4. Conclusions
2

3. 1. Money-
Metric Poverty
Stories
3

4. Typology of Poverty lines
Money-Metric Poverty Lines
National Poverty Lines International Poverty Lines
(Household Specific) (Based on 2005 PPP)
Food Poverty Lower Poverty Upper Fixed Variable
Line Line Poverty Line ($1.25, $2.00, etc) (PL varies with income)
4

5. Conventional storyline
on Arab poverty based
on $1.25 poverty line
Lowest poverty incidence world-wide
Fast poverty reduction since 1990 implying
region is on track to halve extreme poverty
by 2015.
5

6. 6
Population living below $1.25 (2005 PPP), Developing
Regions, 1990-2009 (%)
1990-2000 2000-2009
70
59
60
47 50
50
38 40
40 35
30 24
20 17
9
10 6 4 4 2 5
0
CIS
AC
DR
SA
EA & P
E&
SSA
LA & C

7. Story changes with higher
poverty lines
Arab region is most sensitive to choice
of PL among developing regions.
7

8. Highest % change among Developing Regions when
moving from $1.25 to higher PLs (2000-2010)
$1.25 $2
$2.75 % Change from $1.25 to $2.00
% Change from $2.25 to $2.75
% Change in
Poverty rate poverty
100 450%
90 87
84 400%
80 74 74 350%
70
60 300%
60 57
50 250%
50 46
40 40 40 200%
40
19 150%
30 24
17 20 100%
20 12
12
10 4 6 5 50%
2
0 0%
8
AC EA & P E & CIS LA & C SA SSA DR

9. Poverty rates for Arab Countries and Developing Regions across
a range of poverty lines (in 2005 PPP based on most recent
surveys)
World East Asia & Pacific
P0 (%) Europe & Central Asia Latin America & Caribbean
South Asia Sub-Saharan Africa
100 Arab Countries 100
90 90
80 80
70 70
60 60
50 50
40 40
30 30
20 20
10 10
0 0
0.2
0.6
2.0
2.4
2.8
3.2
3.6
4.0
4.4
4.8
5.2
5.6
6.0
6.4
6.8
7.2
7.6
8.4
8.8
9.2
9.6
1.6
8.0
1
1.25
10.0
9

10. Problems with
international PLs
Problems in equalizing purchasing parity
across countries.
IPLs are not household specific and don’t take
into account family
size, location, demographic composition or
local prices.
10

11. Why not resort to National Poverty Lines?
Headcount poverty rates (P0) based on NPLs for Developing
Regions, 1990-2000 and 2000-2009
1997 2008 % Change Change
45 50%
40
40 37 45%
36
35 40%
31 31 35%
30 27
30%
25 23
20 25%
20 18
20%
15 13
15%
10 9
10 10%
5 5%
0 0%
AC EAP LAC SAS SSA DR
11

12. 12
Problem: Countries set NPL
differently but most apply the LPL
Solution: Back to the stylized facts
on ratio of the NPL to PCE
In poorest countries it will be 0.8-1
In richest developing countries it will
be less than 0.2-0.4

13. 13
Log PCE and actual ratio of NPL to PCE (A) and PCE and NPL/PCE
rearranged in descending order (from richest to poorest) (B)
NPL to PCE and PCE Rearranging countries according to their PCE
Log pce PL/PCE log PCE PL/PCE
3 3
BRA2009
BRA2009
2.5 MEX2008
2.5 JOR2006
TUR2005 EGY2009
MEX2008
TUN2000 JOR2006
CHN-MAR2007 SYR2007
U2005
COM2004 SYR2007 EGY2009
DJI2002 TUN2000 DJI2002
2 CHN- IDN-U2009
IRQ2007
DZA1995 YEM2005 2 IRQ2007 CHN-R2005
MAR2007
R2005 HTI2001 CHN-
IND-R2005
IDN-R2009 U2005 MRT2000
IND-U2005
IND-R2005
1.5 IDN-U2009
1.5
1
1
0.5
0.5
0
0

14. 14
If majority of countries get their NPLs
right then a simple regression can
overcome problems of overshooting
(Brazil) and undershooting (China).
Ln GDP versus Poverty Line per capita per month
6
5
4
3
2
1 y = -2E-05x2 + 0.010x + 3.067
R² = 0.741
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600

15. National poverty lines and UNDP estimated (RPL) poverty lines
(2005 PPP per capita per day) for Developing countries by
expenditure groups, 1990-2000 and 2000-2009
PCE per
capita per
month NPL per day RPL per day NPL/PCE RPL/PCE
Low Income Countries (average per capita expenditure below 60 dollars per month)
1990-1999 47 0.9 1.13 0.59 0.73
2000-2009 49 1.1 1.15 0.65 0.71
Lower Middle Income Countries (average per capita expenditure from 60 to 100 dollars per month)
1990-1999 77.7 1.1 1.5 0.44 0.58
2000-2009 70.2 0.9 1.4 0.4 0.6
Middle Income Countries (average per capita expenditure from 100 to 150 dollars per month)
1990-1999 114 2.3 2 0.6 0.52
2000-2009 109.6 1.8 1.9 0.49 0.52
Upper Middle Income Countries (average per capita expenditure from 150 to 200 dollars per month)
1990-1999 165.8 3 2.7 0.55 0.5
2000-2009 163.2 0.9 2.7 0.17 0.5
High Income Countries (average per capita expenditure above 200 dollars per month)
1990-1999 239.2 3.8 3.7 0.48 0.47
2000-2009 308.2 4 4.1 0.39 0.41
15

16. National poverty lines and UNDP estimated regression based
poverty lines (RPL) (2005 PPP per capita per day) for Developing
Regions and Arab Sub-regions, 1990-2000 and 2000-2009
PCE per capita NPL per day RPL per day NPL/PCE RPL/PCE
per month
Sub-Saharan Africa (11)
1990-1999 48 1.2 1.1 0.73 0.72
2000-2009 58.8 1.3 1.3 0.65 0.66
South Asia (6)
1990-1999 48.9 1.1 1.2 0.69 0.71
2000-2009 55.2 1.1 1.2 0.59 0.67
East Asia and Pacific (9)
1990-1999 59.6 0.8 1.3 0.4 0.65
2000-2009 102.4 0.8 1.8 0.24 0.54
Arab Countries (8)
1990-1999 117.9 1.9 2 0.49 0.52
2000-2009 130 2.1 2.2 0.5 0.51
Europe and Central Asia (9)
1990-1999 167 3.2 2.7 0.59 0.5
2000-2009 257.2 3.3 3.8 0.39 0.45
Latin America and the Caribbean (16)
1990-1999 254.3 3.9 3.9 0.47 0.46
2000-2009 323.2 4.3 4.2 0.41 0.39
Developing Regions (59)
1990-1999 87.1 1.5 1.6 0.52 0.57
2000-2009 121.1 1.5 2 0.39 0.5
16

17. National poverty lines and UNDP estimated poverty lines (2005
PPP per capita per day) for Arab countries, 2000-2009
4.0 NPL UNDP RPL
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
Djibouti Mauritania Yemen Morocco Tunisia Egypt Jordan Syria
(2002) (2000) (2005) (2007) (2000) (2009) (2006) (2007)
17

18. Results: Arab Poverty still lower than
expected for expenditure per capita
UNDP Estimated Poverty rates and per capita Expenditure
(in 2005 PPP based on most recent surveys)
74 BDI Eastern Europe and CIS Arab Countries
64 Latin America & Carib.
MWI East Asia &
MDG
ZMBNPL Sub-Saharan Africa Pacific
54 MOZ
BFA UGA South Asia
SSA
ETH KHM COL
HND BOL
44 BGD CMR NIC
PHL
SASINDGHA KEN ECU
34 LAO
TJK MRT DR SLVDOM PER
DJI
IDN YEM LKA
VNM
GUY VEN JAM LAC BRA
MEX PAN
EAP TUR
24 PAK MNG CHN MAR TUN CRI
KAZ JOR
EGY AZE BGR ECA RUS
AC
14 ROM
SYR
UKR
CHL
4
BLR
-50 -6 50 150 250 350 450 550
18

19. But far more than in the $1.25 and slow
poverty reduction since 1990s
Estimates Based on World Bank Poverty Lines UNDP Estimates
$1.25 $2.00 $2.75 NPL RPL
Headcount Poverty Rate (%) in 2000-2009 and rank
Arab Countries 3.9 2 19 3 40 3 19.1 3 21.5 2
East Asia & Pacific 16.9 4 39.5 4 57.1 4 5.6 1 28.1 3
Europe & Central Asia 1.7 1 5.6 1 11.7 1 14.7 2 20.3 1
Latin America & Caribbean 5.5 3 12.3 2 19.6 2 34.1 5 32.4 4
South Asia 40.3 5 73.9 6 87.5 6 28.4 4 37 5
Sub-Saharan Africa 49.8 6 73.6 5 84.1 5 45.8 6 47.3 6
Developing Regions 23.6 46.4 60.5 19.7 31.8
Poverty Change (%) from 1990-1999
Arab Countries -35.7 4 -24.3 4 -12.4 4 -14.4 5 -8 5
East Asia & Pacific -55.1 1 -40.8 2 -30 3 -49.1 2 -21.8 2
Europe & Central Asia -50.5 2 -59.1 1 -56.1 1 -55.2 1 -11.1 4
Latin America & Caribbean -41.6 3 -39.5 3 -35.1 2 -20.4 4 -22.7 1
South Asia -14.3 6 -7.1 6 -3.8 6 -23.1 3 -6.1 6
Sub-Saharan Africa -16.3 5 -7.7 5 -5.1 5 -13.5 6 -12.5 3
Developing Regions -32.3 -23.4 -17.9 -26.9 -14.4
19

20. 2. The Stable
Gini Paradox
20

21. Inequality in expenditure for Developing Regions (Gini
coefficient), 1990-1999 and 2000-2009
60
1990s 2000s
55.3
52.6
50
43.4 42.9
42.2 41.6
40.5
40
35.8 36.4
35.2 34.7
32.5 33.2
31.2
30
20
10
0
Arab East Asia & Eastern Latin America South Asia Sub-Saharan Developing
Countries Pacific Europe and & Caribbean Africa Regions
CIS
21

22. Arab countries ranked according to level of income and
inequality in expenditure (Gini coefficient), 1990-2009
Middle income/low inequality Low income/high inequality
Syria 1997 34.0 Djibouti 1996 36.8
2004 35.8 2002 40.0
2007 32.0 Comoros 2004 64.3
Egypt 1991 32.0
2005 32.1
2009 30.1
Middle income/medium inequality Low income/medium inequality
Jordan 1992 43.4 Yemen 1996 33.4
1997 36.4 2006 37.7
2002 38.9 Mauritania 1995 37.3
2006 37.7 2000 39.0
Lebanon 2004 36.0
Algeria 1998 40.0
1995 35.3
Middle income/high inequality High income/medium inequality
Tunisia 1995 41.7 UAE 2007 38.8
2000 40.8 Kuwait 1999 36.0
Morocco 1991 39.2
1998 39.5
2007 40.9
Arab Region 1990s 35.2 High income/high inequality
2000s 34.7 Oman 2000 39.9
22

23. Story thus far:
1.High GDP growth driven by
Private Consumption on the
demand side and services sector.
2. Low poverty reduction and
3. Stagnating inequality.
Does this make sense ?
23

24. Large and rising gap between Household Consumption
Expenditure from household surveys (HCE) and national income
accounts (HCE*) (in 2005 PPP), 1990-2000 and 2000-2009
∆
HCE HCE* ∆ ∆ HCE*/
HCE* HCE/HC HCE/HC ∆ HCE
HCE 1990s 2000 1990 Gini HCE ∆
2000s E* 1990s E* 2000s (%)
s s (%) * (%) HCE
(%)
Djibouti 150.5 93.5 90.6 119.5 1.66 0.78 0.01 -0.076 0.05 -0.62
Mauritania 78.7 88.3 98.8 97.3 0.80 0.91 0.01 0.029 0.00 -0.13
Yemen 82.6 84.0 128.5 110.1 0.64 0.76 0.02 0.002 -0.02 -8.89
Morocco 155.4 161.4 150.1 181.1 1.04 0.89 0.00 0.002 0.01 4.99
Tunisia 151.3 182.4 213.6 278.0 0.71 0.66 0.00 0.019 0.03 1.41
Egypt 100.9 121.1 219.2 312.8 0.46 0.39 0.00 0.010 0.02 1.96
Jordan 151.6 210.1 231.3 315.2 0.66 0.67 0.00 0.037 0.03 0.95
Syria 129.8 125.5 200.3 212.3 0.65 0.59 -0.01 -0.003 0.01 -1.73
24

25. This large and rising gap may partly
explain slow poverty reduction in Arab
countries and South Asia
HCE HCE HCE* HCE* HCE/ HCE/ ∆ Gini ∆ ∆ ∆
1990s 2000s 1990s 2000s HCE* HCE* (%) HCE HCE* HCE*/
1990s 2000s (%) (%) ∆
HCE
(%)
AC 117.9 130.0 189.4 247.1 0.62 0.53 -0.01 0.102 0.30 2.99
EA&P 59.5 102.4 88.2 141.8 0.67 0.72 0.10 0.719 0.61 0.84
E&CIS
167.0 257.2 280.7 440.6 0.59 0.58 0.00 0.540 0.57 1.05
LA&C 254.3 323.2 415.0 505.2 0.61 0.64 -0.05 0.271 0.22 0.80
SA 48.9 55.2 77.4 110.0 0.63 0.50 0.06 0.130 0.42 3.25
SSA 48.0 58.8 52.4 61.3 0.91 0.96 -0.02 0.226 0.17 0.75
DR 87.1 121.0 137.0 192.7 0.64 0.63 0.00 0.390 0.41 1.04
25

26. Conclusion:
Relative to other regions,
inequality in expenditure is
probably more
underestimated in Acs:
HIESs did not capture the
expenditure of the very rich
26

27. 3. Other facets
of inequality in
Arab countries
27

28. Inequality in Human
Development
28

29. Components of Human
Development Index
29

30. Disparities in HDI and HDI Progress 1970-2010
Using 1970 as the base year, the region appears to have done well in
human development but the rate of progress on human development
slowed down noticeably since 1990 and large disparities between
countries
HDI HDI
Non- GDP Non- GDP
improve Country Improve
Income Growth Income Growth
ment Name ment
HDI rank rank HDI rank rank
Rank Rank
1970-2010 1990-2010
1 Oman 1 19 15 7 40
5 KSA 3 111 18 2 108
7 Tunisia 6 20 14 12 21
9 Algeria 5 100 30 19 98
10 Morocco 14 42 12 10 43
13 Libya 4 132 41 18 114
17 Egypt 25 39 21 28 32
19 UAE 24 38 103 88 118
34 Bahrain 21 104 94 93 67
43 Jordan 26 87 51 53 44
58 Qatar 73 121 104 104 58
67 Sudan 121 72 22 118 9
68 Kuwait 48 131 61 59 50
94 Lebanon 89 92 29 54 8
122 Djibouti 117 133 100 109 130 30

31. HDI versus GNI per capita
• Despite differences in level of income and human development
almost all Arab countries still lag behind other regions in terms of
human development
1.0 Hybrid HDI
0.9
Kuwait
Bahrain
0.8 LAC Libya UAEQatar
Tunisia KSA
Jordan Algeria
0.7 EAP ECA
Egypt AC
0.6 DR
SAS Morocco .
0.5 Sudan
0.4 SSA Djibouti
0.3
0.2
0.1 Log GNI per capita
2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5
31

32. HDI and IHDI
32

33. • Under perfect equality Computation of IHDI
the IHDI is equal to the
HDI, but falls below the
HDI when inequality
rises.
• In this sense, the IHDI
is the actual level of
human development
(taking into account
inequality), while the
HDI can be viewed as
an index of the
potential human
development that
could be achieved if
there is no inequality.
33

34. HDI IHDI Overall loss in IHDI (%)
0.80 40.0
0.90 40
0.70 35.0
0.80 35
0.70
0.60 30.0
30
0.60 0.50 25.0
25
0.50 0.40 20.0
20
0.40 0.30 15.0
15
0.30 0.20 10.0
10
0.20 0.10 5.0
0.10 5
0.00 0.0
SSA
ECA
EAP
World
LAC
SAS
AS
0.00 0
Saudi…
Leban…
Moro…
Opt.
Libya
Kuwait
Bahrain
UAE
Djibouti
Jordan
Qatar
Yemen
Syria
Egypt
Algeria
Tunisia
Oman
Sudan*
Iraq

35. IHDI Components for Arab States vs. other regions
Arab States have considerable losses due to unequal
distribution in education but problems with the
income/expenditure estimates.
Inequality-adjusted life Inequality-adjusted Inequality-adjusted
expectancy index Education index income index
Value Loss(%) Value Loss (%) Value Loss (%)
0.800 45.0 0.800 45.0 0.700 45.0
0.700 40.0 40.0 40.0
0.700 0.600
35.0 35.0 35.0
0.600 0.600
0.500
30.0 30.0 30.0
0.500 0.500
25.0 25.0 0.400 25.0
0.400 0.400
20.0 20.0 20.0
0.300
0.300 0.300
15.0 15.0 15.0
0.200 0.200
10.0 0.200
10.0 10.0
0.100 5.0 0.100 0.100
5.0 5.0
0.000 0.0 0.000 0.0 0.000 0.0
SSA
SAS
SAS
SSA
LAC
AS
AS
LAC
ECA
EAP
World
ECA
EAP
World
35

36. IHDI Components for Arab States
Within ACs losses in education are highest in
Morocco, Djibouti and Yemen
Inequality-adjusted life Inequality-adjusted Inequality-adjusted
expectancy index Education index income index
Value Loss(%) Value Loss (%) Value Loss (%)
0.90 40 0.600 60.0 0.600 35.0
0.80 35
0.500 30.0
0.500 50.0
0.70
30
25.0
0.60 0.400 40.0 0.400
25
0.50 20.0
20 0.300 30.0 0.300
0.40
15 15.0
0.30 0.200 20.0 0.200
10 10.0
0.20
5
0.100 10.0 0.100
0.10 5.0
0.00 0 0.000 0.0
0.000 0.0
Lebanon
Syria
Morocco
Djibouti
Yemen
Jordan
Tunisia
Egypt
Arab States
36

37. Inequality between
regions and
income/wealth groups
37

38. High rural-urban disparities in money-
metric poverty- Egypt in particular
Urban Rural
Headcount Poverty Headcount Poverty Ratio of Rural to Urban
Index (%} Gap (%) Index (%} Gap (%) Headcount Poverty
Egypt (2000) 9.2 1.7 22.1 3.9 2.4
Egypt (2009) 10.1 28.9 2.9
Jordan (1997) 19.7 4.8 27.0 7.2 1.4
Jordan (2002) 12.9 2.9 18.7 4.7 1.4
Syria (1997) 12.6 2.3 16.0 3.5 1.3
Syria (2004) 8.7 1.5 14.3 2.6 1.5
Yemen (1998) 32.3 8.7 42.5 13.1 1.3
Yemen (2006) 20.7 4.5 40.1 10.6 1.9
Algeria (1995) 9.0 19.0 2.1
Algeria (2000) 10.3 14.7 1.4
Tunisia (1990) 3.3 0.7 14.8 3.2 4.5
Tunisia (2000) 1.7 8.3 4.9
Morocco (1990) 7.6 1.5 18.0 3.8 2.4
Morocco (2007) 4.8 14.5 3.0
38

39. Rural-urban divide: HPI and P0
Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Yemen
24 National Average HPI 2007 National Average HPI 1997
High P0 and Low HPI High P0 and HPI UBN (%) National Average
CnR
22 70 High UBN and Low P0 High UBN and High P0
Akkar/M inieh-
20 Bent Jbeil/M arjaay oun/Hasbay y a Dennieh
T Cn NER* 60
R2 = 0.42
18
50 Nabatieh
Jezzine/Saida
TR S outh
16
T NER* T R* Sour North
SR NER
CnU T NER Hermel/Baalbek
40
P0
14 NEU T National Average P0 1997 Nabatieh City Bekaa
Shouf/Aley
SR* Trip oly City
TU
12 T*
National Average P0 2007
30 Baabda
CsU TS T S* West Bekaa/Rashay y a National Average
SU SU*
NEU* Koura/Zgharta/Batroun/Bsharre
10 T U* T Cs Zahle
CsR 20 Mount Lebanon
CnR*
CsR*
8 T Cn* Keserwan/Jbeil
CnU* T Cs* Beirut City
10
M aten
6
CsU* Low UBN and High P0 P0 (%)
Low UBN and Low P0
Low P0 and HPI High HPI and Low P0 0
4
4 9 14 19 24 29 34 39 44
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
HPI
40HPI
Low P0 and High P0 and 80
HPI Low P0 and High P0
35 75
Fayoum
National
Bani Suef 70 Reymah Hajjah
Sohag
30 Menia Al-Jawf
National
Kafr el Beheira Assiut 65 Sa'adah
Al-Mahweet
Qena Dhamar Amran
Sheikh 60
25 Laheg
Sharkia Mareb Al-Baida
Total 55 Al-Hodeidah Abyan
Dakahlia luxor Giza National Taiz
20 Matrouh
QualiobiaMenoufia Nort. 50 Ibb All Yemen
Al-Daleh Shabwah
Garbeyya Ismailia
Aswan 45
15 Alexandria
Damietta 40
Cairo Al-Maharah
Suez Said
Port National
10 South Sinai
Red Sea
35
New Valley
30 Hadramout
5 25
20
0 Low P0 and High P0 and Income poverty Low P0 and High P0 and
15 39
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Income Poverty (%)

40. MPI for rural and urban regions and highest and
lowest expenditure quintiles for :
Egypt, Morocco, Syria and Yemen (2006-2009)
Region/ MPI H A
quintile
Total 0.05 0.11 0.41
(2009) o (2007) (2007) (2006)
Egypt Morocc Syria Yemen
Rural/Urban 2.6 2.5 1
Q1/Q5 3.9 3.3 1.2
Total 0.04 0.1 0.4
Rural/Urban 7.5 7.1 1.02
Q1/Q5 12.2 12.2 0.96
Total 0.03 0.07 0.38
Rural/Urban 4.6 4.4 1.1
Q1/Q5 1.7 1.6 1
Total 0.27 0.54 0.51
Rural/Urban 1.7 1.5 1.1
Q1/Q5 1.9 1.7 1.2
40

41. High inequality in Under Five Mortality Rates, Delivery
Assistance by a Skilled Health Personnel and Antenatal
Care Visits for Egypt and Yemen in particular
Under five mortality Delivery by a Skilled
Antenatal Care Visits
rates Health Personnel
Poorest Richest Poorest Richest Poorest Richest
140 120
120
120
Rate per 1,000 live births
% of ANC (1 or more visits)
100
100
100
80 80
80
60 60
60
40 40 40
20 20 20
0 0 0
Jordan
OPT
Sudan
Egypt
Yemen
Syria
Jordan
Algeria
OPT
Sudan
Tunisia
Djibuti
Yemen
Egypt
Syria
Iraq
Tunisia
Algeria
Jordan
OPT
Iraq
Djibouti
Sudan
Syria
Yemen
Egypt
41

42. Concluding
Remarks
42

43. Measurement issues:
• At the international level, current poverty
measurement is very misleading.
• At the national level, influenced by politics.
Also there are good reasons why we should
not rely on the actual food basket of the poor
(Ravallion/WB method).
• Need to better harmonize surveys and
improve methodology (even for NPL).
• Women and children not captured in HIES
so focus on human deprivation indicators.
• Surveys excluding the rich. 43

44. Observations from HIEs on
Children in Poverty
• Little difference in poverty measures FHH and MHH
but Households headed by divorced or separated
women and widows with more than three children
are over-represented among the poor.
• The risk to illiteracy of children, living in poor female
headed households, is the highest.
• Poverty pushes children to work. Girls are kept at
home to do domestic work, while boys go to work
to help their poor families.
• Child labor in rural Yemen is worst at nearly 10
percent of poor boys (aged 6-14 years).
44

45. Policy conclusions
• Target poor FHHs with children. FHHs are
more vulnerable in Acs since they rely less
on wages or own account production. Social
protection programs and transfers are thus
key to FHH.
• No doubt poverty and inequality need to be
addressed within a broader set of
influencing policies that aim to establish the
Arab Developmental State Model.
45