Poor men’s' prospective bleaker than women’

Poor men’s future outlooks are much shorter than poor women’s. Poor men also experience more profound worthlessness than women ,according to a new study by researchers from the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare(THL)

The researchers concluded that even when men are poor and unemployed, their recognition and role is tied to work, money, and markets. Women, however, have more means to attain a sense of worth outside the economic realm, said a THL bulletin.

In the study, the researchers analyzed 50 written autobiographical accounts of poverty by 25 Finnish women and 25 Finnish men aged 28–57 years submitted to a writing competition. The participants were informed that their texts would be used also for research purposes.

“Male respondents tended to think that being active generated value. Women’s futures were generally defined by waiting for something better and raising children,” said researcher Reetta Siukola from the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare.

According to the accounts, motherhood brings with it an acknowledged position in society. Therefore, women respondents did not see unemployment as detrimental to them, as men seemed to do.