This could, at least partly, be because in rural zones, the male partner often migrates or works away from home for lengthy periods (e.g., seasonal agricultural work). Seven countries have achieved a faster reduction in incidence among male headed households, specifically Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama Paraguay. In these countries, the gap between the two groups of households ranges from 10 percentage points in Mexico to 50 in Argentina and also in Paraguay, a country where female headed households have recorded the only increase in extreme poverty in the region. In contrast, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Bolivia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru and Uruguay display progress among female-headed households ranging between 11 and 47 percentage points higher than those headed by men.