Global project 930-0030 · 1973–1987 · International Center for Research on Women (ICRW)

Most development assistance is directed toward the poor but largely ignores the status and needs of women who may be the poorest of the poor. Little is known, however, about the participation of poor women in socioeconomic development or the hidden value of their household contributions. This report summarizes proceedings of an AID-sponsored workshop conducted by the International Center for Research on Women in Elkridge, Maryland, April 30-May 2, 1978. The report focuses on women's productivity in the household and in the marketplace; the relationship between women's productive ability in the household and household welfare; production and consumption patterns of households headed by women; and the adequacy of current socioeconomic indicators to grasp work patterns and wants of poor women. Previous employment surveys barely implied the economic contribution women make to the real income and well-being of the poor, whereas surveys of market/home time budgeting accurately portray its magnitude. To measure this contribution, full (as opposed to market) income should be evaluated. Full income is a woman's total contribution of child care, food preparation, and other home production ac

Source: DEC abstract, PN-AAH-910 (1978). The source's own text.