The purpose of this article is to compare different family models according to the typology proposed by the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, or National Census Bureau), to verify whether families headed by women really represent the most vulnerable or "at-risk" family arrangement. The latter is the commonsense notion that legitimizes the framework of feminization of poverty, in vogue in the last two decades and with considerable impact on the design of anti-poverty social policies. The current empirical study disaggregates the employment data (employment rate, mean wages, workweek) not only by gender (identifying differences between men and women), but also breaking down the data for women, comparing the situation of women heads-of-families versus wives. In terms of women’s full participation in the work market, the effect of conjugality is even more harmful than motherhood (presence of children).
gender and work market; feminization of poverty; gender inequalities
