A Menu of Options for Intra-Household Poverty Assessment

Intra-household resource allocation is an important factor influencing household food security. Households with adequate caloric and nutrient intake in aggregate may still include malnourished individuals, owing to unequal distribution among household members. Yet while this is well understood, many practitioners lack accessible and affordable tools to understand these dynamics. Comparing nutritional status among household members is particularly costly. This paper attempts to address this gap by reviewing and assessing existing analytical approaches. It ends by recommending that a pilot test the incorporation of questions analyzing intra-household resource allocation into USAID's Poverty Assessment Tools.