TITLE:
Poverty as the Ultimate Material Consequence of the Sexual Division of Labour for Brazilian Women
AUTHORS:
Nathalia Lipovetsky
KEYWORDS:
Sexual Division of Labour, Feminisation of Poverty, Domestic and Care Work
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.14 No.4,
April
24,
2026
ABSTRACT: This article aims to summarise reflections on the sexual division of labour and the feminisation of poverty, providing data on Brazilian reality. The sexist and exclusionary cultural bias against women that drives the sexual division of labour has strong repercussions on the economy and the labour market, as well as on women’s income-generating opportunities, ultimately converging to the feminisation of poverty. The methodology employed is based on the analysis of secondary data available in Federal Government agency publications, especially IPEA and IBGE, as well as reading and indexing works to define concepts such as the sexual division of labour and feminisation of poverty, including intrinsic conceptual discussions like intersectionality, gender, and patriarchy/capitalism. This approach is particularly relevant to the issue of wages and employability, combined with the poor distribution of domestic and family care tasks and the impact this has on women’s professional lives. For Brazilian Government agencies, domestic work does not count as an economic activity, neglecting the status and recognition of unpaid domestic and care labour as activities that contribute to production, the economy, and the country’s development. As a consequence of the sexual division of labour, women face worse conditions and opportunities in the labour market, have lower pay, and still face the double shift, as they remain almost exclusively responsible for domestic care work. Data confirm that female-headed households, especially non-white, are more prone to poverty and food insecurity, which need to be addressed by targeted public policies.