Haiti: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper; IMF Country Report 08/115 ...

Gender, Poverty, and Inequality
35 The incidence of extreme poverty in households where a female is the main wage earner (58
percent) is significantly higher than in households where the main wage earner is male (53
percent according to ECVH data). The incidence of extreme poverty is 26 percent among
households where a female is the main wage earner in the metropolitan area, as opposed to 17
percent where the main wage earner is male. In other urban areas, the percentages are as follows:
64 percent among females and 48 percent among males.
36 According to the 2000 Survey on Household Consumption Budgets, almost 48 percent of
consumption inequality is attributable to the gender of the head of household. Average
consumption is therefore much lower for those households where the main wage earner is a
female, and inequalities in the social sphere and in the area of skills seem more marked among
women than men. For the most part, women are in low-skilled professions. They represent a
mere 43.9 percent of persons in intellectual and scientific professions; 36.5 percent in mid-level
professions; and 32.3 percent in administrative positions. The level of education of women is
generally lower than that of men, which explains in part their more unfavorable position in the
employment market.
37 Almost 40 percent of the population age 10 and over is illiterate (IHSI 2003). This is the case of
42 percent of women versus 36 percent of men. Disparities between the sexes are lower at the
primary level but become more pronounced at the higher educational levels. At the moment,
boys spend more time in school than girls during the first two cycles. The duration of time spent
in school by girls is two years and eight months compared to a general average of three years and
nine months.
Education and Poverty
38 The education system in Haiti is a highly exclusionary one that contributes to the perpetuation
and reinforcement of inequalities through limited access to schools, particularly in rural areas,
and differences in the quality of schools, the result being that generally, poorer children have
access to low-quality education only and the cost of education is relatively high in relation to the
income of families, who cover most of their educational expenses. Only 21.5 percent of the
population age five and over will be educated at the secondary level and barely 1.1 percent at the
university level (1.4 percent for men against 0.7 percent for women).
39 At the moment, almost one-third of children between the ages of six and twelve (500,000
children) do not attend school. This percentage climbs to 40 percent for the five to fifteen age
group (approximately one million children). The dropout rate is particularly high in the first basic
cycle (29 percent). Close to 60 percent of children drop out of school before receiving their
primary education certificate. Of the two million children enrolled in the basic level, only 56
percent are at the required age for the first cycle (ages six to eleven).
40 Most schools do not have adequate facilities and are under-equipped. According to the 2003
school survey, five percent of schools are housed in a church or an open-air shaded area. Some
58 percent do not have toilets and 23 percent have no running water. This situation is highly
prejudicial to girls. In addition, only 36 percent of schools have libraries. The vast majority of
workers (80 percent) do not meet the existing criteria for the selection of training programs or are
not accepted in these programs because of the lack of space in professional schools. Only 6 of
every 1,000 workers on the labor market have a diploma or certificate in a technical or
professional field.
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