Although at the global level households headed by men and those headed women are almost equally likely to be multidimensionally poor—29 percent of man-headed households and 28 percent of woman-headed households are multidimensionally poor—there is considerable variation across countries and regions.16 Because the MPI is calculated at the household level rather than at the individual level, complementary research may be needed to clarify the relationship between gender and poverty. An average of 49 percent of the population in 24 countries in conflict for which the MPI is calculated lives in multidimensional poverty, and another 16 percent live in near-poverty. An average of 27 percent of people in these countries live in severe multidimensional poverty.