The Gender Poverty Gap in Transitional Economies: Southeast Asia in Focus - Coursework Example

The study answers the hypothesis that the gender poverty gap is not as high in Southeast Asia as in other parts of the world. This research is significant in that the theme of governance and poverty reduction in developing countries has not been addressed using a combined approach. Poverty and social inequality is a common problem tackled in various domains in development administration. A combined methodology is an employed-quantitative and qualitative research in which statistics and in-depth interviews of the sample population will be used for data collection.

Secondary research has also been employed through a critical review of relevant literature. The inclusion and use of this paper in the Meeting for Advancement of Development Administration will contribute to providing solutions to the problem. The solutions will benefit the government, public, and private sectors which are responsible for policies that can reduce inequality in the mentioned domain. The study is justified in that failure to suggest solutions to the impeding gender poverty in transnational economies can lead to serious predicaments such as mass demonstrations, an increase of campaigns for rights, increase in crime rates, and reduced confidence of foreign investors who are responsible for contributing to the development of transitional economies.

Poverty is one of the most persistent social problems in the world and throughout history, has affected people even from the most developed nations. Poverty can be described as a basic lack of decent means of survival. Poverty is characterized by the deprivation of basic needs and thus affecting the survival capacity. To understand the problem of poverty, its depth and breadth, diverse issues must be analyzed. For instance, poverty can be explained from a macroeconomic lens such as the failure of the potato food crop in Ireland in the 1840s, and the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Poverty can also be looked at from a micro-analyses perspective, in which individual incapacitation is included. 

At an individual incapacitation level, researchers have observed the ‘feminization of poverty’ which is a recent trend around the world. Feminization of poverty stems from the observation that women are, and tend to be poorer than men in the society. There are a greater number of women who are poorer than men. The severity or degree of poverty experienced by women is far much worse than that experienced by men. There is also an increasing trend of more women falling below the poverty line because of recent trends such as increased number of female heads of households among others.

One indicator to the feminization of poverty is the gender poverty gap, which refers to the marked economic difference or inequality between males and females. Every country has such a gap; however, the situations vary according to the specific economic context of the country. Research on gender poverty gaps in Southeast Asia is crucial to any efforts at women empowerment and poverty reduction. While there are many in existence, an in-depth study on the subject has yet to be conducted. Filling this research gap is the main motivation of this research proposal.

Therefore, this paper is the concept proposal paper to study on Gender Poverty Gap in South East Asia not a full dissertation. II. Rationale and Objectives of the Study Research on the gender poverty gaps is a valuable starting point for solving not only the feminization of poverty but the poverty itself. Poverty is strongest among women, and especially the single mothers. This inspired the notion that women require study, and also that the feminization of poverty is also a substantial case within the larger picture of poverty occurrence.

The study will increase awareness that women should be empowered through measures that can increase their social, economic, and political equity. It will also improve their broader access to fundamental human rights, improvements in nutrition, basic health, and education. The gender poverty gap in Southeast Asia requires research particularly because of the fact that they are a transition economy with a setting specific to the region and hence affects the gender poverty gap. These need to be revealed in order for policy makers to not only make the necessary policies or policy changes to address gender poverty gap, but also catapult their economies beyond the economic transition.

The research also aims to bring into awareness the prevalence of gender inequality as a means of oppression of women, particularly in the Southeast Asian region. Ultimately, this study is urged by the general aspiration of poverty reduction in developing economies such as those of Southeast Asia. It is in belief that before the Southeast Asian countries can truly transit from developing to developed economies, and gender poverty gaps should be minimized as much as possible and soonest. Not only would this study provide a more humane, less biased public perception of women, but will also promote a more equitable society in which economic growth is triggered by the general rise of living standards of women III.

Research Methodology The proposed study will combine both quantitative and qualitative approaches to determine the gender poverty gap and its impact in the transitional Southeast Asia economies. The existing literature on gender poverty gaps in Southeast Asia lacks an empirical study that quantifies on gender poverty gaps, and thus the motivating aspect for the proposed study on a quantitative perspective. Nevertheless, a quantified research that will directly verify such claims is lacking. This proposed research will fill this gap by implementing statistical analysis of the population data based on the squared poverty gap Equation (2).

The researcher will also use in-depth interviews to determine the position or economic and social statuses of women in transitional economies. The key ways to combine the quantitative and qualitative approaches is through integrating the methodologies, confirming, refuting, enriching, and explaining the findings of one approach with those of the other, and merging the findings of the two sets into one set of policy recommendations.