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Abstract
Data collected from a 1997 household survey carried out in Accra, Ghana, are used
to look at the crucial role that women play as income earners and in securing access to
food in urban areas. One-third of the households surveyed are headed by women. For all
households, women's labor force participation is high, with 75 percent of all households
having at least one working woman. The high number of female-headed households and
the large percent of working women in the sample provide a good backdrop for looking at
how women earn and spend income differently than men in an urban area. Livelihood
strategies for both men and women are predominantly labor based and dependent on social
networks. For all households in the sample, food is still the single most important item in
the total budget. Yet, important and striking differences between men and women's
livelihoods and expenditure patterns exist. Compared to men, women are less likely to be
employed as wage earners, and more likely to work as street food vendors or petty
traders. Women earn lower incomes, but tend to allocate more of their budget to basic
goods for themselves and their children, while men spend more on entertainment for
themselves only. Despite lower incomes and additional demands on their time as
housewives and mothers, female-headed households, petty traders, and street food
vendors have the largest percentage of food secure households. Women may be achieving
household food security, but at what cost? This paper explores differences in income,
expenditure, and consumption patterns in an effort to answer this question, and suggests
ways that urban planners and policymakers can address special concerns of working
women in urban areas.