A Study on Childly Understanding of Poverty and Gender in Farahzad Neighborhood - Tehran

The main question of the article is what are the similarities and differences between the childhood experience of poverty in girls and boys? Data collection was performed using observation, group discussion, and semi-structured interviews with the participation of 30 children (16 girls and 14 boys) aged 10 to 17 years who had experienced a life of poverty. Data analysis was performed using conventional qualitative content analysis. Findings show that girls and boys have similar and different experiences of poverty at the same time. While the lack of clothing, housing, and food is similarly experienced and perceived by girls and boys, girls' work at home, their lack of access to public space, make things different for them. On the other hand, the gender division of labor in early childhood applies strictly to girls and boys in poor families. As boys gain access to money, the resources available to them outside and inside the home increase. But wage labor from an early age increases the physical and psychological stress for boys. Girls have domestic gender roles and unpaid labor and suffer from severe social constraints.