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Hemmati, M. 2000. Gender-Specific Patterns of Poverty and (Over-)Consumption in Developing and Developed Countries. In: E. Jochem, J. Sathaye & Daniel Biulle (eds.). Society, Behaviour, and Climate Change Mitigation. Proceedings of IPCC Expert Group Meeting on Social Scientific Approaches to Climate Change Mitigation. 169-190. Klewer Publications
3. Issues & Research This paper does not aim to give a full overview of existing research in the area of gender, (over-)consumption and poverty as it relates to mitigation of climate change. Based on existing research, several issues, trends and respective findings - mostly regarding behavioural differences - are being presented below to provide a basis for discussion about how those behaviours might the analysed and eventually changed.
3.1 Poverty and (Over-)Consumption The Human Development Report’s (HDR 1998) approach to consumption is based on an interesting definition: ‘from a people’s perspective consumption is a means to human development. Its significance lies in enlarging people’s capabilities to live long and to live well. Consumption opens opportunities without which a person would be left in human poverty’ (ibid, p 38). In its definition of consumption, the HDR includes non-material consumption, i.e., social security, health, education, childcare and transport. It also includes consumption that lies outside the monetised economy, i.e., goods and services supplied through unpaid work, especially by women. The HDR 1998 brings to light that despite a dramatic surge in consumption more than one billion people lack the opportunity to consume in ways that would satisfy their most basic needs. The report addresses two issues of consumption, i.e., the poverty and inequality nexus and the poverty and environment degradation nexus. With regard to the poverty and inequality nexus, the HDR informs us that, within a global context, there are widespread disparities in relation to what people can consume. For example, 20% of the highest income countries account for 86% of total private consumption while the poorest 20% account for only 1.3%. The richest fifth consume 58% of total energy while the poorest fifth consume less than 4%. The HDR 1998 (p51) points out that of the 4.4 billion people in the developing world, nearly three-fifths lack access to sanitation, a third have no access to clean water, a quarter do not have adequate housing and a fifth have no access to modern health services of any kind. Shortfalls of essentials are not just a problem for poor countries; in developed countries many individuals cannot meet their basic needs (Global South). The central point that the HDR (1998piii) makes is that the poorest have been left out of the consumption explosion. For more than one billion of the worlds poor increased consumption is a vital necessity and a basic right - ‘a right to freedom from poverty and want.’ Globally, poverty has a women’s face, i.e., of the 1.3 billion people living in poverty, 70% are women (HDR, 1995, Haq 1997). Women also constitute two-thirds of the world’s illiterates (Ibid). Global statistics place them behind men in relation to health, education, nutrition levels, political participation, legal rights, equal pay for equal work, among many other things (Bruce & Dwyer, 1988; Haq, 1997; HDR, 1995). Women also have less access to credit in developing countries. To give some examples (HDR, 1995), in Latin America and the Caribbean only 7-11% of women are beneficiaries of credit programmes. A study of 38 branches of major banks in India found that only 11% of the borrowers were women. In Zaire women made up only 14% of borrowers from commercial banks. Most banks in developing countries require that borrowers be wage earners or property owners who can provide acceptable collateral. In most countries such borrowers are men. Lack of monetary income, land and other immovably property in their own name, and limited education keeps women from accessing credit. As women are poorer than men in most societies, they are the ones who suffer the lack of basic necessities (Mananzan, 1999). Moreover, the lower income of women also denies them basic rights as consumers. The principal rights of the consumer - access to essential goods, choice, safety, information, representation, redress, consumer education and a healthy environment are least attainable by poor women (Wells & Sim, 1987). Poor women who are illiterate are especially vulnerable to unethical marketing practices such as higher prices and fraudulent services. At the same time, there has been an enormous increase in consumption levels world wide, mostly among the privileged. World consumption expenditures, private and public, have expanded at an unprecedented pace doubling in the last 25 years to reach $24 trillion in 1998 (HDR, 1998). However, apart from an increase in goods and services used to meet people’s needs, there are other factors that have motivated excess and conspicuous consumption. Spending is often motivated by pressures to match social status and standards set by society. Household debt, especially consumer credit is increasing while household savings are falling in many developed and developing countries (Ibid). As CI ROAP (1997) points out, the ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ syndrome is especially apparent in societies with significant gaps in income. Conspicuous consumption can have adverse effects on poor people and gender relations when consumer aspirations are motivated by social pressures. Increased spending whereby households aim to emulate the lifestyles of wealthy people can crowd out essentials such as food, education, and health care (HDR, 1998). This can have a discriminatory effect on girls since evidence shows that they receive less food, education and health care in developing countries vis-à-vis boys (DasGupta, 1993; Haq 1997; Dreze & Sen, 1995). However, the adverse effects of conspicuous consumption on gender relations need to be investigated more thoroughly. The issue of globalisation is also linked to excess consumption. The integration of the global consumer market has brought changes in consumption patterns that are particularly apparent in Asia and Latin America (Robinson & Goodman, 1996). The issue of globalisation’s impact on consumer behaviour and the gendered implications need further investigation.
3.2 Consumption and Gender Women represent the largest group of consumers or shoppers world-wide (Beckmann, 1997; Mananzan, 1998). According to Wells & Gaik Sim (1987): ‘all of us are consumers, women and men of all nationalities, all social classes and groups. But women are the largest group of consumers, buying for others as well as for themselves.’ Grunert-Beckmann (1991, p625) says: ‘Women represent the largest group of consumers. They take part in the consumption cycle - choosing, buying, using and disposing - both for themselves and for others. The second task is often the dominant one, because a women is responsible for most of the shopping does not necessarily imply that she uses what is brought. On the contrary, as the family manager she often buys what suits her husband and children rather than herself.’ Globally, women are the ones who make the purchasing choices of daily items. Women are mainly responsible for the everyday shopping of their households. In the UK, women make over 80% of consumer decisions (Mawle, 1996; Vajpayi, 1996). According to Costa (1993), in the US women are often responsible for consumption activities - shopping, preparing items for consumption, gift buying and disposal of used items. She points out that in some cases American men are typically more responsible for the purchase of certain types of goods than are women. Firat (1994) foresees that the deconstruction of gender roles in post-modern culture is likely to create radical transformations in both consumer behaviour and marketing. However, the deconstruction of gender roles in post-modern culture is viewed quite sceptically by some scholars who argue that little has changed from modernity to post-modernity (MacDonald 1995, Costa 1994).
3.3 Consumption Choices By Women and Men There is evidence from developing countries of the different income allocation priorities amongst men and women. Evidence indicates that men to a much larger extent tend to spend their earnings on personal consumption (for example, cigarettes, liquor etc). On the other hand, women’s earnings are prioritised on their children and family needs. As Bruce & Dwyer (1988, p5) argue, ‘At issue is not simply the ways in which women’s income is used, but the degree to which men and women differ in taking personal spending money from their earnings. Though the specifics of women’s consumption responsibilities vary (in Africa and across the world) it is quite commonly found that gender ideologies support the notion that men have a right to personal spending money which they are perceived to need or deserve and that women’s income is for collective purposes’. It is also important to examine the nature of major consumption decisions that men and women make in the family as this is linked to the use and control of resources - for example, allocation of food, clothes, medicines, and decisions on education etc. There is compelling evidence from developing countries that resources under the control of women are more likely to be devoted to children and are likely to contribute significantly to the well-being of the family (Bruce & Dwyer, 1988; Moore, 1994, Thomas, 1990). For example, Thomas (1990) found that income that was controlled by Brazilian women increased the health and survival chances of their children twenty times greater compared with income that was controlled by the father (Moore, 1994). A rather reverse example for gendered consumption in developed countries is fashion. Fashion is mostly a feminine area of consumption, although increased marketing of fashionable cloths and cosmetics targeting men has begun to change this dichotomic picture. Women buy far more fashionable clothes than men and tend to spend a far greater percentage on their appearance that men do. This is consistent with women’s roles and identities. For women, to be socially accepted and perceived as desirable by the opposite sex, it is important to look attractive and beautiful. In modern Western societies, attractiveness and beauty is linked to being (or looking) young, slim, healthy, and ‘well-maintained’. Fashion, as well as cosmetics and make-up, is helping to portray these attributes. A fashionably dressed woman will, on the average, be perceived as attractive. The enormous increase of consumption levels referred to above has also occurred in the area of fashion. Fashion cycles have also become shorter and new collections out now every three months. There has been an increase in lower price market sales as well as in extremely luxurious goods. Production has been moved to low-income countries and a lot of child labour and sweatshop labour is involved. Fashion consumption in developed countries is in many cases an example of over-consumption, of adverse impacts on developing countries in many cases - regarding production and regarding environmental impacts (4).
3.4 Energy Consumption Lack of access to fuel (firewood and alternative sources) in developing countries causes people to cut down wood and forests in an unsustainable way and contributes to deforestation. The people who lack access to resources and are at the same time responsible for food and safe water supply are women. It is well known that women mainly bear the burden of providing biomass fuels for domestic use (e.g. Batliwala & Reddy 1996). Lack of access to modern cooking and heating technologies forces women into often unsustainable use of natural resources. This lack also largely contributes to women’s disadvantages in development, taking up their time and energy. Women have significant less of their own human resources available for education and income generating activities. Even access to technologies which reduce the workload does not necessarily benefit women. For example, mechanisation of farming and introducing tractors for ploughing has in many African countries had gender biased results. While the men took on the task of riding the tractors and increasing their work efficiency, women remain responsible for the weeding and harvesting have remained manual tasks predominantly performed by women. "Thus, mechanisation has served not only to deforest large areas of Africa (thereby affecting its carbon sequestration capacity) but also tremendously increased the agricultural workload for women" (Raban Chanda, review communication). Cross-country data show the linkages between energy consumption and the distribution of income. Total energy consumption per capita increases with the per capita GDP. The mix of energy carriers varies with income and its distribution (Leach 1992). In particular, reliance on biomass is greater among countries with lower incomes, among countries with more unequal income distributions, and among countries with relatively small urban populations. The end-uses of human energy in villages show that the inhabitants, particularly women and children, face enormous burdens, e.g. gathering fuel wood and fetching water. There are also serious health implications arising from rural energy consumption patterns which imply over-use of fuel wood and other biomass energy (e.g. Batliwala 1982, 1987). Health problems relating to energy consumption affects women and girls in particular. Because of them being responsible for preparation of food for their families, women and girls are much more exposed to in-door air pollution resulting in diseases of the respiratory system and the eyes. The other side of the 'inequity coin' in relation to energy consumption is over-consumption of energy in the Global North. The production and use of luxurious goods such as unnecessary, energy-intensive electric household appliances (alarm systems, communication and entertainment systems, jacuzzis, saunas, dryers, etc.) requires extremely high levels of energy use. Gender differences in access to these goods usually only become apparent when differentiating within households by income and decisions about income use. Transport is one of few issues which have attracted more research in recent years (see below); with regard to many of these goods, research is sketchy at best.
3.5 Transport The growing literature on women and transport has clearly shown that women tend to have different travel needs deriving from the multiple tasks they must perform in their households and their communities (Grieco & Turner 1997; Hamilton 2000, in press). Low-income women also tend to be dramatically less mobile than men in the same socio-economic groups (Dutt et al. 1994). Transport provides critical links between our homes, jobs and social lives. Mobility and travel are essential in fulfilling every role we play. Women’s roles vary between societies, classes and ethnic groups. Female travel patterns vary, depending on whether women live in urban or rural areas, the stage of economic development and whether they are economically active. There are, however, many common features that extend across both developed and developing societies. Even in societies where formal legal equality exists, men and women do very different work. Women are assumed responsible for childcare and the well being of the household, including its health, education and housing. Managing a household includes the handling of sources of constraints (income, time) and crises (illness). Most importantly, routines and crises are coped with simultaneously. The management of travel is an integral part of the general household coordinating process. Findings on women’s travel patterns show that (see Figueroa 1998):
A recent example of studying travel patterns of different social groups is a study by Linden et al (1999): ‘Gender, Travelling and Environmental Impacts’. The authors investigate travel patterns among different socio-economic groups in Sweden. According to the authors, the estimated goal for sustainable energy consumption for travelling is 11,000 MJ per person per year. Data on gender differences in travelling patterns, i.e., distances travelled, modes of transportation and number of passengers in the car, were obtained from a database developed as part of the National Travel Survey (NTS) in Sweden. The following means of transport were examined; walking, bicycles, moped and motorcycles, car drivers, car passengers, taxi, lorry, train, commuter train, tram, bus, aeroplane and other modes of transportation. The measurement period of the NTS was from April 1994 till 1999. The study used data from the year 1996. The sample covers 50,000 people over the age range of 6-64 years. According to the findings of their study: Elderly persons, persons with low income and women in general do not travel extensively. The ones who come closest to the goal for sustainability are elderly women in the age group of 75-84 who consume 12,000 MJ energy per annum. Middle-aged persons, persons with high income and men travel much more. Men in the age group of 45-54 years with high incomes consume the most energy, i.e., 94,000 MJ per annum. This is in contrast with men of low incomes who only consume 23,000 MJ energy per annum for their travelling. According to the authors, women’s lesser use of transport is related to their domestic responsibilities and choice of employment. Women more often than men rear young children and may abstain from working outside the home. When they do work outside home, they may choose to work nearby. Women’s employment is often within care and service sectors located in the centre of cities. Most public transportation is oriented in centre-periphery-directions, which makes it easier for women to take public transport. Men with high incomes travel longer for work and have more energy demanding vehicles than women. Men have been shown to have different preferences than women in relation to leisure activities. Women spend their leisure time in the neighbourhood while men may travel to sports arenas at some distance from their homes. Moreover, high-income earners often live in low-density areas with detached houses located far away from subway stations. This could lessen their chances to use public transportation to work or to do daily shopping by using a bicycle or walking. This is in contrast to low income earners who live in high-rise buildings where public transport is easily accessible. Linden et al. point out that the differences in men and women’s energy use cannot only be attributed to differences in employment rates but possibly to differences in sectors of employment, ownership of a driving license and car and varied income levels. More men have driving licenses compared to women. The authors also stress the importance of income as influencing both the amount of travel done for work and for leisure. The main conclusions of the study are that, gender differences are so large that they cannot be ignored in the ongoing work for identifying and remedying unsustainable patterns of consumption. Moreover, the differences in energy consumption among socio-economic groups in Sweden are so large that they can be compared to differences in resource use commonly found among average citizens in developed and developing countries. The importance of this research is that large disparities in consumption can exist even within a seemingly homogeneous and egalitarian society such as Sweden. Moreover the usefulness of this research is the identification of social groups (based on a disaggregation of gender, age and income) whose lifestyles are less sustainable when compared to other groups. The study has also examined why low-income categories and women spend less time on travelling compared to high-income categories. These findings can have important policy implications for the middle aged population of high income earners, who can be encouraged to change their travelling habits. However, policies must be accompanied by moves towards more sustainable infrastructure and means of transportation.
3.6 Environmental Degradation Another area of inequity that is central to the debate on sustainable consumption is the issue of environmental degradation and the implications for the poorest people. The HDR 1998 focuses on over-consumption in developed countries and its effects on the poorest people. Environmental degradation is concentrated in the poorest regions and affects the poorest people. Deforestation is concentrated mainly in developing countries. For example, over the last two decades Latin America and the Caribbean have lost 7 million hectares of tropical forests. Most of this deforestation has taken place to meet the demand for wood and paper; nearly three quarters of it is used in developed countries (HDR 1998; World Energy Assessment 2000). The literature on gender, environment and development has, however, shown that although over-consumption is caused by processes at the international and national level it is poor women in developing countries who bear the heaviest burden of environmental degradation (Agarwal, 1992; Dankelman & Davidson 1988, Hombergh, 1993). Women as compared with men are more intensively engaged in household subsistence activities. Environmental degradation therefore makes their workloads. As Agarwal puts it, (1992p138), because women are the main gatherers of fuel, fodder and water it is their working day that is lengthened with reduced access to essential items. Agarwal (1992) points out, that, the inability to obtain essential items due to environmental degradation has led to a number of suicides amongst young women in Uttar Pradesh, North India. Increased hardship in obtaining items for the household has caused tensions within the family.
3.7 Measures of Environmental Protection Thus, women bear the brunt of consumer shortages and it is their time that is impacted in trying to obtain essential consumer items. For example, in the West women have to balance shopping requirements with work and family. In developing countries women often have to walk long distances to acquire essential items. Thus, as Charkiewicz (1998p2) argues, due to the unequal gender division of labour, moves that are likely to be developed to promote sustainability can increase the already heavy workloads of women. The promotion of sustainable activities such as labour-intensive organic agriculture, reforestation, household recycling and segregation of waste can put additional demands on the time of women. Similarly Eie (1995) argues that control measures such as eco-labelling place responsibilities on the individual consumers. This can increase women’s workload in particular, as they are the main shoppers.
3.8 Consumer Awareness and Behaviour Concerning Environmental Problems There is a still patchy, but growing body of research into gender differences regarding environmental awareness and activities. There is evidence that women are more environmentally aware and engage more in protection activities such as recycling, re-use and environmentally conscious shopping (e.g., Shiva 1993; Kranendonk 1996). An example of recent research is the study by the Sumitomo-Life Research Institute (1996): ‘Consumers Awareness and Behaviour Concerning Global Environmental Problems and their Impact on Corporate Business Strategy in Japan’. The survey focused on four issues: 1. To what extent do consumers think they are responsible for environmental problems? 2. To what degree does their knowledge on environmental problems influence their ideas concerning responsibility and their behavioural pattern? 3. What actions do consumers take towards resolving environmental problems? 4. To what extent do consumers believe they are able to speed up industry action to improve the environment? Gender was one of the many attributes that were examined along with age, income, socio-economic status and family size. Altogether, 2000 adult men and women between 20 to 74 years were interviewed in September 1995. The following findings are relevant to the context of the present paper:
I do not want to discuss here the possible reasons for differences found - e.g. fundamental, basically biologically determined, gender differences and/or gender roles causing different interests and needs. However, the findings on gender differences are varying, which might be due to varying roles. For example, CI ROAP (1997) found that men were more often growing their own food and that these men were showing more environmentally conscious behaviour. Thee is a need for further empirical research and meta-analysis in this are. Overall, the varied findings suggest the importance of cross-cultural research in determining which gender groups around the world follow (un)sustainable consumption patterns. In terms of providing the basis for more specifically tailored approaches to promoting sustainable consumption behaviour, it is essential that we find out more about the attitudes and behaviour patterns of the different gender (and age, etc.) groups in societies. _______________________________________________ (4) A recent protest letter from the Indian Minister Maneka Gandhi to the fashion designer Calvin Klein illustrates this point. Gandhi claims that by using snakeskin in his latest designs, Klein has contributed to environmental damage and food insecurity in India. Gandhi continues saying that because of the increased demand for snakeskin in the fashion market, more snakes than ever before have been caught in India and are being (illegally) exported. This has caused an increase in rat population, which in turn led to the loss of up to 50 % of rice crop yield in India (DER SPIEGEL; 28/02/2000, p 260). |
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Copyright © Minu Hemmati, 2006 |
