A world without poverty is the number one goal on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Yet, poverty risks have been exacerbated globally in recent years, due to both the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian war on Ukraine. Statistics reveal that women outnumber men in the poorest 20 percent of households in more than half of the countries around the world for which gender-disaggregated data is available. 

The overview of poverty and gender in the South Caucasus reveals that regional trends are essentially consistent with those in the rest of the world. On the aggregate level differences in poverty rates between genders seem to be insignificant. In part this is because poverty is measured on the household level, and the aggregate figures obscure potential differences in access to resources, including consumption, within households. 

Moreover, the data from the South Caucasus suggests that families with children, most notably single female-headed households with children, are much more vulnerable to poverty. This indicates the need for specific targeted policies that address poverty risks for such at-risk households.This policy brief reviews available statistics and general gender and poverty trends in all three South Caucasus countries. We highlight information and data gaps and propose policy solutions.