Feminization of poverty and the povertization of women in Nigeria: A conceptual analysis and implications for female criminalities

Abstract

Extant literature has considerably posited that structural decreases in access to services and income make women increasingly  vulnerable to poverty. A divide of the body of knowledge on women’s poverty status used feminization of poverty to infer poverty among  women as a function that primarily focuses on the changes in family structure. Another divide argued that the povertization of women  better captures the long history of female economic impoverishment and exploitation. In this article, an analysis of these two  perspectives was done to review social constraints that uniquely contribute to women’s poverty in Nigeria. Guided by liberal feminist- structural theory, a narrative approach was adopted to engage literature on women’s poverty in Nigeria, social constraints for women’s  empowerment, and women’s participation in property crimes. Evidence from the review shows that both perspectives of feminization of poverty and the povertization of women apply to the case of Nigerian women. Explanations for women’s participation in property crimes  were established within the context of poverty and economic marginalization. The authors examined the implications of female  criminality on the overall fabric of Nigerian society and argued for a reversal of socioeconomic conditions that continues to emasculate  womenfolk from economic enterprise. Specifically, adoption of social policies to support single mothers and mother-only families,  recognition of the economic value of women’s unpaid labor, and encouragement of women’s active participation in politics, were  suggested.