In 1993 an estimated 29.5 percent of the total households in Guyana were headed by females many researchers caution the present data on poverty in Guyana, since the poorest members of society by definition of their poverty are also the most isolated. Amerindian women isolated physically and socially are likely to face higher levels of poverty than the statistics indicate. This figure is again confirmed by World Bank Report on the Caribbean Region. Income data for Guyana is collected as households. Assumptions about women are made from the data collected, rather than gender specific data being used.
Women also make up a large proportion of the informal sector where income is largely unrecorded.
Finally, women spend large amounts of time in unwaged work such as agricultural labor, domestic duties, and family businesses. Committees discriminate against women. Women often apply for land titles in their husband's name. The National Development Strategy contends that differential access to land rights, the nature of the divorce law and housing shortfall may produce vulnerability for women in terms of retaining household assets following family breakdown. While no legal provision exist that denies women access to loans, mortgages and credit or require them to have their husbands or male partners' consent, the demand for high levels of collateral, as well as the high interest rates, put formal credit beyond the reach of many women.