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The majority of the world’s population now live in urban centres, which will also absorb virtually all population growth in the next century. Urbanisation involves major shifts in the ways people work and live, and offers unprecedented opportunities for improved standards of living, higher life expectancy and higher literacy levels, as well as better environmental sustainability and a more efficient use of increasingly scarce natural resources. For women, urbanisation is associated with greater access to employment opportunities, lower fertility levels and increased independence. However, urbanisation does not necessarily result in a more equitable distribution of wealth and wellbeing. In many low and middle income nations, urban poverty is growing compared to rural poverty.

Specific aspects differentiate urban poverty from rural poverty. While urban residents are more dependent on cash incomes to meet their essential needs, income poverty is compounded by inadequate and expensive accommodation, limited access to basic infrastructure and services, exposure to environmental hazards and high rates of crime and violence. This gives urban poverty a distinctive gendered dimension as it puts a disproportionate burden on those members of communities and households who are responsible for unpaid carework such as cleaning, cooking and looking after children, the sick and the elderly. At the same time, cashbased urban economies mean that poor women are compelled, often from a very young age, to also engage in paid activities. In many instances this involves work in the lowest-paid formal and informal sector activities which, at times of …