Religion and feminization of poverty in Nigeria: a Christian perspective

Abstract

Poverty is a cankerworm which has eaten deep into the very fabric of the Nigeria society. Though poverty is a common denominator among the people of the average Nigerian society, women are the most vulnerable group. Therefore the concept, feminization of poverty seeks to describe a phenomenon in which women represent a higher percentage of the society‟s poorest group. In other words, poverty is being identified with feminism. Our curiosity was attracted by this stereotype concept and the position of Christianity on the issue of poverty among women. The paper discussed the meaning and origin of feminization of poverty and discovered that, in Nigeria, Colonialism perpetuated the poverty of women. The paper also discovered some causes of poverty of women as follows: lone mother households, social and cultural exclusions, desperate income, etc. The discussion was focused on the Christian perspective, it was discovered that, some Christian teachings encourage poverty among women and establish the fact that women‟s roles are limited to that of total dependence on men and thus, making it difficult for women to be economically empowered.

Key Words: Religion, Feminization, Poverty, Christianity