Exiting Poverty: Does Sex Matter?

Abstract

Little is understood about the factors associated with poverty duration in Canada, or which factors, if any, may affect women and men differently. Moreover, research pays scant attention to how far Canadians transition out of poverty. For example, some may exit poverty only marginally, while others exit much further above the poverty line. We investigate the determinants of poverty duration among women and men in Canada. A major contribution of this article is the examination of poverty duration across different exit destinations (competing risks): exits to just above the poverty line versus exits to further above the poverty line. We find that nearly one-quarter of poverty spells end within 110 percent of the poverty line (near poverty). Many of those who exit to near poverty experience multiple spells. As expected, we find that higher education increases the probability of transitioning further out of poverty, but very little is correlated with exits to near poverty relative to remaining in poverty. The longer the poverty spell, the lower the probability of exit, particularly to higher income levels. We find few significant gender differences in the coefficient estimates. Differences are present in the characteristics associated with exits close to or further away from the poverty line.