This pattern aligns with findings from UNDP and UN Women's 2026 report, which show that womanheaded households do not differ significantly from man-headed households in overall food insecurity incidence, yet are more likely to adopt severe negative coping mechanisms when faced with food security challenges.21 Unpaid care burdens, weaker labour-market opportunities and more limited access to community support structures compound the severity of deprivation among young women and women in general.22 These findings underscore the importance of interventions that address the intensity of deprivation. When caregiving responsibilities for children or elderly dependents compel women to leave stable employment, the resulting loss of regular income deepens deprivation. Access to childcare, social protection, livelihoods support and community-based services directly address this transmission channel, rather than focusing solely on poverty incidence. Table 6 Socio-economic profiles of multidimensional poverty Household profile MPI headcount MPI score Key vulnerability mechanism Income-poor households (Q1) 52.2% 0.255 Low and unstable income, limited asset buffers and constrained access to services Income Q2 households 39.7% 0.183 Structural vulnerability and limited returns to small income gains Casual-worker households 48.5% 0.228 Irregular earnings, job insecurity and absence of employment protection Low education household head (none or primary) 44% 0.211 Limited human capital, livelihood diversification and restricted service utilization Migrant households 50.2% 0.241 Informal employment, settlement insecurity, weaker social networks and documentation barriers Conflict-exposed households 56.5% 0.271 Displacement, disrupted services and livelihood loss Woman-headed households (among the poor) 31.0% 0.146 Higher deprivation depth linked to care burdens and labourmarket constraints The household-group analysis establishes who carries the highest poverty burden: low-income households, casual and informal workers, migrants, conflict-affected households, and households whose head has limited or no formal education. These groups overlap and reinforce one another, with deprivation deepening sharply where multiple vulnerabilities coincide. Identifying who is poor and how deeply, across income, employment, education, migration and conflict exposure, is the first step. The next question is what kind of deprivation these households experience: whether it is driven by health deficits, inadequate living standards, or lack of education. Section 5 addresses this by decomposing the MPI into its three component dimensions: education, health and living standards. 21 UNDP & UN WOMEN (2026). Uneven Burdens: Women in Myanmar’s Crisis Economy. 22 UNDP (2025). A Generation on Hold: Youth Employment and Education. L AYE R S O F DE P R I VAT I O N : M u l t i di m en si on a l Pov er t y i n M y anmar 35