False equivalence: Evidence from Mexico on the sensitivity of female poverty estimates to alternative intra-household pooling assumptions

Abstract

This paper uses micro-data from Mexico's 2016 ENIGH household survey to first estimate per capita poverty rates by sex and then examine the sensitivity of these estimates to different intra-household pooling assumptions. By applying a range of pooling models—including joint pooling, male- and female-controlled systems, and partial pooling structures—the analysis reveals substantial variation in female poverty estimates, ranging from 51.6% to 58.4%. Our results show that relying on the standard assumption of resources being pooled and shared equitably across households can understate women's poverty by up to 7 percentage points. These findings underscore the importance of integrating women's agency and control over resources into poverty analysis and the need for further research and data on intra-household inequality to improve estimates of per capita poverty.