What Is the Feminization of Poverty

Feminization of Poverty

While poverty is a terrible condition for all of those who suffer it, more often than not, poverty wears a women's face. Quite simply, women are more likely to be poor than men, almost universally, regardless of the nation in which they reside. Women make less money than men, are more likely to have the sole responsibility for caring for children, and single mothers have the dual responsibility of being the sole income support for their children. Women are more likely to have been denied adequate resources to gain an education to secure a wage as well and to work in lower pay, low-status occupations.

What is the Feminization of Poverty?

The term "feminization of poverty" was first used by sociologists in the 1970s to describe "a steep significant rise in the percent of all families in poverty headed by women between 1959 and 1979, followed by a leveling off after 1987 at approximately 50%" (Mykyta & Renwick, 2013, p. 6). Approximately 60% of all families living in poverty are headed by women, a figure that has remained constant since 1979, despite the advancements of the women's rights movement (Mykyta & Renwick, 2013, p. 6). The greater risk of poverty for women is universally true for all races and age groups: "26.5% of African-American women are poor compared to 22.3% of African-American men; 23.6% of Hispanic women are poor compared to 19.6% of Hispanic men; 10.7% of Asian women are poor compared to 9.7% of Asian men; and 11.6% of white women are poor compared to 9.4% of white men" (Cawthorne 2008). Although non-white women from historically marginalized groups suffer from poverty to a greater degree, clearly the contributing factors of female poverty impact all racial groups to some extent.

Divorce

One disturbing trend in regards to the feminization of poverty is that while most men who divorce their wives either maintain their economic status or improve it, women experience a decline in economic security after divorce. "In 2009, during the recession, women who divorced in the previous year were more likely to receive public assistance than men, and they reported lower household income. They were also more likely to be poor than recently divorced men" (Weiss 2011). Despite the common cultural stereotype that women receive abundant child support and alimony assistance from their former husbands, women often find themselves with the greater burden of the majority of childcare and are forced to work less to have the time to provide adequate assistance for their children. They may also have forestalled their careers to have children with their former husbands, further limiting their skills. Combined with the wage gap between men and women, divorce is often an economic catastrophe for women and female-headed households. Women may feel as if they are forced to choose between an unfulfilling marriage and economic uncertainty.

It should be noted that the fact that women earn less than males is not necessarily linked to the fact that women choose less lucrative professions, as is sometimes alleged. According to the Institute for Women's Policy Research, "in 2015, female full-time workers made only 79 cents for every dollar earned by men, a gender wage gap of 21%. Women, on average, earn less than men in virtually every single occupation" ("About pay inequality and discrimination," 2016). Lower incomes mean that women are less able to support themselves and their children in the eventuality of single motherhood or divorce; it also means even single women have less money to save for retirement, less money to invest throughout their lives, and this has a compounding effect over the lifetime of the earner.

Although this is true regardless of occupation, it is also important to remember that women are often socially pressured (or believe themselves to be socially pressured) to enter into lower-paying occupations. Women are less likely to major in lucrative subjects such as STEM fields and are often encouraged to work in "teaching, child care, nursing, cleaning, and waitressing, which typically pay less than jobs in industries that are male-dominated. In 2007, nearly half -- 43% -- of the 29.6 million employed women in the United States were clustered in just 20 occupational categories, of which the average annual median earnings were $27,383" (Cawthorne 2008). Even when women pursue college degrees, as they are in greater and greater number, they are not necessarily leveraging those degrees in a meaningful fashion to achieve greater economic stability.

Domestic Violence and Poverty

Domestic violence is itself detrimental to the earning power of women. "It is estimated that victims of intimate partner violence collectively lose almost 8 million days of paid work each year because of the violence perpetrated against them by current or former husbands, boyfriends, or dates" (Cawthorne 2008). Women who suffer from domestic violence often feel as if they are put in an impossible position -- either they can remain where they are and endure physical abuse or to leave but put themselves and their children at economic risk. According to the Coalition for Human Needs, "low-income women are often trapped in abusive situations by a lack of financial resources; raising the minimum wage and the tipped minimum wage would benefit millions of low-wage workers, the majority of whom are women"(Imbery 2014). Other solutions to assist women who are struggling with extricating themselves from a bad marriage but who fear poverty for themselves and for their children "The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (VAWA) expanded important housing protections for survivors of domestic violence" and supporting safe houses for women fleeing domestic abuse situations, particularly supportive organizations which provide education and job placement assistance as well is essential (Imbery 2014).

Solutions to the Feminization of Poverty