Editing Hunger (section)

==Hunger and gender==
{{See also|Food security#Gender and food security}}
[[File:Lange-MigrantMother02.jpg|thumb|''[[Migrant Mother]]'' by [[Dorothea Lange]] (1936)]]

World Bank studies consistently find that about 60% of those who are hungry are female. Globally, women typically face greater economic barriers compared to men and have access to fewer resources, creating greater obstacles to food security. In both developing and advanced countries, parents sometimes go without food so they can feed their children. Women, however, seem more likely to make this sacrifice than men. Older sources sometimes claim this phenomenon is unique to developing countries, due to greater sexual inequality. More recent findings suggested that mothers often miss meals in advanced economies too. For example, a 2012 study undertaken by [[Netmums]] in the UK found that one in five mothers sometimes misses out on food to save their children from hunger.<ref name="WB30Jul12"/><ref>{{Cite web
 |url=http://www.wdm.org.uk/food-and-hunger/555-million-women-go-hungry-worldwide
 |title=555 million women go hungry worldwide
 |publisher=[[World Development Movement]]
 |author=Miriam Ross
 |date=8 March 2012
|access-date=31 July 2012
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321213616/http://www.wdm.org.uk/food-and-hunger/555-million-women-go-hungry-worldwide
 |archive-date=21 March 2012
}}
</ref><ref>{{Cite news
|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/family/9084054/Mums-missing-meals-to-feed-kids.html
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217152607/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/family/9084054/Mums-missing-meals-to-feed-kids.html

|archive-date=17 February 2012
|title=Mums missing meals to feed kids
|work= [[The Daily Telegraph]]
|date= 16 February 2012
|access-date= 31 July 2012
}}
</ref>

One partner-households are especially vulnerable to food insecurity and highlight a gender disparity in food security. In the U.S., households with children raised by single-mothers are more likely to be food insecure compared to households with single-fathers.<ref>{{Cite journal |title= Household food security in the United States in 2022  |url=https://search.nal.usda.gov/discovery/fulldisplay?&context=L&vid=01NAL_INST:MAIN&docid=alma9916411232407426 |access-date=23 March 2024 |website=search.nal.usda.gov | date=2023 |language=en |doi=10.32747/2023.8134351.ers | last1=Rabbitt | first1=Matthew P. | last2=Hales | first2=Laura J. | last3=Burke | first3=Michael P. | last4=Coleman-Jensen | first4=Alisha }}</ref> Differences in time allocation between paid work and unpaid work may also be an explanation for increased food disparity in women-lead households, as women tend to dedicate more time to unpaid work comparatively.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Silva |first1=Andres |last2=Astorga |first2=Andres |last3=Faundez |first3=Rodrigo |last4=Santos |first4=Karla |date=15 August 2023 |title=Revisiting food insecurity gender disparity |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=18 |issue=8 |pages=e0287593 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0287593 |doi-access=free |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=10426994 |pmid=37582082|bibcode=2023PLoSO..1887593S }}</ref>

In several periods and regions, gender has also been an important factor determining whether or not victims of hunger would make suitable examples for generating enthusiasm for hunger relief efforts. James Vernon, in his ''Hunger: A Modern History'', wrote that in Britain before the twentieth century, it was generally only women and children suffering from hunger who could arouse compassion. Men who failed to provide for themselves and their families were often regarded with contempt.<ref name = "HungerModHist"/>

This changed after [[World War I]], where thousands of men who had proved their manliness in combat found themselves unable to secure employment. Similarly, female gender could be advantageous for those wishing to advocate for hunger relief, with Vernon writing that being a woman helped [[Emily Hobhouse]] draw the plight of hungry people to wider attention during the [[Second Boer War]].<ref name = "HungerModHist"/>