This paper responds to the need to examine with empirical data the way in which women and children have been affected by recession and structural adjustment. A careful analysis of the impact on women (as compared to men) in developing countries has not been undertaken before with this kind of data. To facilitate our understanding of the Ivorian household survey data, we also used existing sociological and anthropological studies. These studies formed the basis of our interpretation of socio-cultural structures, economic exchanges between men and women within the household, the sexual division of labour for certain tasks and types of employment (and on different crops: export/food production for the rural areas) and the way in which different sources of income are allocated to given expenditures and by whom. The essential point is that adjustment and other programmes can provide realistic opportunities and incentives for productive activities for men and women which are based on ...