The Feminization of Poverty

Divorce?

• Given what we’ve learned so far, why would women be more likely to be poor?

  • Wage gap - they earn less as women

  • Race gap - they earn less as women of color

  • They are often single parents - supporting children on a single income rather than two (and we know the workday was not designed for them)

  • Lack of childcare

  • Women are much more likely to be economically dependent on a husband or partner.

  • Family wage gap - Women earn an average of 20% less when they have families (men too.... this is a parent/non-parent issue)

  • Illegal discrimination - by race, gender, etc.

  • General male privilege - women do not get the same general societal benefits given to men (health, food, benefit of the doubt, etc.)
• 2011 Federal poverty line: $22,350 for a family of four (exc. Alaska/Hawaii) - a more practical estimate

 

 

Wealth report - race/gender gap not just in wages, but in wealth

 

 

 

 

 

U.S. inequality in general

 

 

 

 

 

Poverty & Families

Single moms & Ideology

 

Working poor

“Cycling”

 

TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families)

How would you define the welfare policy? What goals would be important?

 

How does the federal government defines welfare policy?

 

TANF Fallout - after "welfare reform," education no longer a required option for welfare recipients...many states dropped it:

1996    172k welfare recipients in college
1998    58k welfare recipients in college

City Univ of NY, 27k in 1996; 10k in 2000

Massachusetts community colleges: 8000 students drop to 4000

Calif: 136k in 1996 to 113k in 1999


 

Why is this so problematic? Education has been key to getting off welfare PERMANENTLY.

• Upon earning a college degree, 90% of parents receiving welfare got jobs to exit welfare; a year later, ninety percent still employed, avg wage $25k/yr. 23% get graduate degrees
• Completing a degree increased women’s wages by at least 59%. Even just some college increased her wages by 5%. White women generally increased wages 77%; Latinas 88%, AfrAm women 92% (Education increased women of color's wages more proportionately than white women).

 

Families, Equality, Poverty…..how might we respond?

1. Revalue women’s work to make stay-at-home moms in nuclear families more economically powerful (state, culture)?
2. Change definitions of family to acknowledge/ encourage alternative, economically stable, egalitarian families ?
3. Reinforce traditional (gender, marital) norms to bring outliers into compliance with single model (TANF's response)?
4. ???

 

 

 

Related organizations:

• Welfare Warriors
• MomsRising
• Mothers Movement Online
• At-Home-Dad for SAH Dads…(men who change diapers change the world)