It Documents the extent to which female-headed households (FHHs) are in fact over-represented among the poor. Investigates the proximate determinants of the relative greater poverty among FHHs and the consequences of living in FHHs upon children's labor force participation and school attendance. Study three Brazilian metropolitan areas using the 1984 version of the Brazilian annual household survey called PNAD (Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios).