This gender division of labour increases women’s economic dependency on men. When men with higher earnings or a pension are not around any more because of divorce, migration or death, women as lone mothers and older women living alone have a higher risk of poverty. The proportion of women who were employed and earned cash income in the last 12 months is particularly low in some Asian countries, in both the Southern and Western sub-regions, and the gender differences are very high. For example, only 27 per cent of married women aged 15—49 in India were employed and earned cash income in the last 12 months, compared to 90 per cent of married men of the same age.