Women in Poverty

You might know . . .

Around 15 percent of Americans live at or below the poverty line.

But maybe you’ve never thought about . . .

Poverty rates for women are higher than for men, and women of color experience the highest rates of poverty. Women are paid less than men for equal work and are often segregated into lower-paying work. Women are more likely to bear the cost of raising children and caring for aging family members. Women experience higher rates of sexual and physical abuse, which can push them into a cycle of poverty and incarceration. In fact, women are the fastest-growing segment of the prison population. Most of these women lived at or below the poverty line before their incarceration. Many incarcerated women are mothers of children under the age of eighteen, and these children face higher rates of mental-health issues and trauma.

“Poverty has a woman’s face.”

Tahira Abdullah

10% of men in the United States are in poverty, compared with 14% of women.

Source: Kaiser Family Foundation

 

Women of color experience higher rates of poverty than white women—specifically, 23% of African American women, 23% of Native women, 21% of Latina women, and 12% of Asian American women, versus 10% of white women.

Almost 56% of children experiencing poverty live in families led by single mothers.

Source: National Women’s Law Center

 

More than 60% of women incarcerated in state prisons have children who are under the age of eighteen.

Source: Pew Research Center

 

WHAT YOU CAN DO

• Encourage your employer to hire qualified women and to advocate for policies of flexible work and paid family leave
  to help women support their families.
• Fund and support organizations, like Planned Parenthood, that give women living in poverty more control over their reproductive health.
• Read Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty, by Dr. Dorothy Roberts and Poster Child: The Kemba Smith Story, by Kemba Smith with Monique W. Morris.
• Contact your state and federal representatives to advocate for better care for pregnant women who are incarcerated, better protections for their children, and more programs in female prisons for mothers to be able to spend time with their children.
• Advocate for comprehensive bail reform to reduce or eliminate the use of money bail. Donate to bail funds, especially for incarcerated mothers.

 

In 2013, approximately 2.7 million children (or about 1 in 18 children) had a parent who was incarcerated.

Source: Pew Research Center

 

REFLECTION & JOURNAL SPACE

• How has the burden of caregiving affected your life, if you are a woman, or the lives of the women in your family?
• What have you learned about the impact on children and families of incarcerated people, particularly women?