GAZA, (PIC)
The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research revealed Monday that the war on the Gaza Strip has led to an unprecedented rise in the number of women serving as sole providers for their families, with the number of widows now exceeding 22,000.
In an analytical paper titled “Women Breadwinners in the Gaza Strip: War Economy and the Reproduction of Social Poverty,” the center said the loss of family providers due to the war has caused profound changes within the Palestinian family structure, with tens of thousands of children also losing one or both parents.
The study explained that these shifts are unfolding within the context of a collapsed war economy marked by the breakdown of the labor market and record-high unemployment rates among women. At the same time, the informal economy, largely dependent on aid and unstable forms of work, has expanded, placing women in the role of providers without access to real means of production.
The paper noted that women in Gaza are now carrying overlapping responsibilities that combine economic support with caregiving, while effective social protection systems remain largely absent. This has intensified the economic, psychological, and social pressures they face.
It stressed that these changes are not temporary but rather reflect a deep restructuring of society that could reproduce poverty across generations unless emergency relief efforts are replaced by long-term economic empowerment policies.
The center emphasized that addressing the crisis requires a comprehensive approach that integrates women breadwinners into production and reconstruction efforts, viewing them as active participants in social and economic recovery rather than merely recipients of aid.
Field data further highlighted the scale of the catastrophe facing women in Gaza, who have borne the brunt of the violence and suffering. Statistics indicate that more than 6,020 families have been reduced to a single survivor, often a woman or child, while 2,700 families have been completely wiped out and erased from the civil registry.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Women’s Affairs said the killing of husbands and the detention of thousands of men have forced tens of thousands of women to become sole providers for their families under extremely harsh humanitarian and economic conditions.
