Even though women are in the labour market in ever greater numbers, marriage and childbearing often dampen their access to paid work. However, in many contexts, a single (often low) income is insufficient to pull the entire household out of poverty. Moreover, in a world that is increasingly monetized and marked by changing social risks and family forms, strengthening women's command of economic resources is hugely important. To answer this question, this chapter begins by explaining why it is important for a woman to have resources of her own—be it from labour market earnings, assets or entitlements to social protection—regardless of the family structure in which she lives (see Figure 4.2).