What is Feminization of Poverty? Feminization of poverty is the Increasing female proportion of the population on low incomes or in poverty. Feminization of poverty is the social process in which the incidence of poverty among women becomes much higher than among men. Diana Pearce, director of the Center for Women's Welfare, coined the term Feminization of Poverty in 1978. The 'juvenilization of poverty' is linked to the feminization of poverty. By feminization of poverty we mean increase in the female proportion of the population with lower incomes than men. Changes in social policy, structure of the family and workplace, social security provisions, life expectancy and other aspects of society have had the unintended result of feminization of poverty.
The Feminization of Poverty in the
United States - Gender, Race, Ethnicity, and Family Factors
Marjorie E. Starrels, Univ of Michigan, Sally Bould, Univ of Delaware, Leon J. Nicholas,
Bates College. This article details the contribution of
gender, race, ethnicity, marital, and parental status to the
feminization of poverty. It suggests that gender, race, and ethnicity strongly affect
poverty rates. However, parenthood interacts with gender in such a way as to affect only
women and to affect particularly White women more than Blacks and Hispanics. The authors articulate clearly the forces
that have generated rapid feminization of poverty. The analysis takes into account a range
of factors that have contributed significantly to feminization of poverty. - Journal of Family
Issues, Vol. 15, No. 4, (1994).
FEMINIST POLITICAL
DISCOURSES: Radical Versus Liberal Approaches to the Feminization of Poverty and
Comparable Worth - JOHANNA BRENNER, Portland State University.
Feminist campaigns concerning feminization of poverty and comparable worth are analyzed in
terms of their major policy goals and the arguments typically used to justify those goals.
The differences between liberal and radical discourses on each issue are outlined and the
implications for feminist practice discussed.
Feminization of Poverty and African-American Families: Illusions and
Realities
Donna L. Franklin - Affilia, Vol. 7, No. 2, (1992)
The term feminization of poverty was coined to capture the increasing rates of poverty
among mother-only families. More recently, it has been used to draw attention to the
failure of men to provide support for their former wives by emphasizing the enforcement of
child-support legislation. By using the case of African-American families, this article
presents a comprehensive approach to addressing the poverty of single mothers that will
bridge the racial and class divisions among women.
A Contrast of Black and White Feminization of Poverty
Emily Northrop: Southwestern Univ, Eastern Economic Journal, 1994, vol. 20, issue 4
Abstract: The feminization of poverty was most pronounced from 1959 through
1978, and was more extreme among blacks than among whites. It resulted equally
from a deterioration of female-headed household poverty status relative to that
of the rest of the population, and from a
demographic transition into female-headed households. During the period 1978 to 1991
there was little net change in the percentage of the poor living in female-headed
households.
Using Postmodern Feminist Theory to Deconstruct "Phallacies" of
Poverty
Kathleen E. Nuccio, Roberta G. Sands - Affilia, Vol. 7, No. 4, (1992)
This article demonstrates how postmodern feminist
deconstruction can be used to uncover
phallocentric biases in current theories of the feminization of poverty. Deconstructs
statements from leading theorists, and questions the proposed solution to the feminization
of poverty, which is marriage for women and the creation and preservation of good-paying
jobs for men.
Fighting the Feminization of
Poverty: Socialist-Feminist Analysis and Strategy. Wendy Sarvasy, Judith Vanallen, Review of Radical Political Economics, Vol. 16, No. 4,
(1984)
Socialist Feminism provides a necessary corrective to
the strict feminization of poverty analysis by incorporating analyses of race and class
differences among women. We use the concept of women's dual role to
analyze the interconnections among the family, the labor market and the welfare state, and
to examine the ways that gender and class struggles over the costs of reproduction of
labor power are expressed as conflicts over welfare policies.
The Feminization of Poverty?
VICTOR R. FUCHS, National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Abstract: This paper uses Census of Population and Current Population Survey data to
analyze the sex-incidence of poverty in 1959, 1969, 1979, and 1984 according to a fixed
standard and another standard that changes with national per
capita real income. There was much feminization of poverty in the 1960s, but in the
1970s, the sex mix of poverty was relatively constant, and between 1979 and 1984 women's
share actually decreased. This trend in feminization of poverty was more severe for blacks
than for whites. An increase in the proportion of women in households without men was the
principal source of feminization of poverty and the principal reason why the trend was
more adverse for blacks than whites.
What Does Feminization Of Poverty Mean? It Isn't Just Lack Of Income
Fukuda-Parr S. - Feminist Economics, Volume 5, Number 2, 1 July 1999
This paper challenges the use of poverty incidence among female-headed households as a
measure of feminization of poverty. An alternative framework of human poverty is proposed,
focusing not on incomes but on human outcomes in terms of choices and opportunities that a
person faces.
Work, women employment and feminization of poverty in Nigeria
Friday Asiazobor Eboiyehi, Adeyinka Oladayo Bankole, O Andrew Eromonsele.
Abstract: Scholars over the years have engaged in gender discourse that has often time
demonstrated the continuous perpetuation of the inferiority of female gender to their male
counterpart. The continued exposure of the latter either in the traditional or modern
society to deepening poverty has therefore aroused a lot of interest in the discussion of
the reality of the 'feminization of poverty'. This paper is an attempt at contributing to
the on-going debate on feminization of poverty. The paper puts forward policy
considerations that would facilitate the elimination of all gender colourations in the
place of work that perpetuates feminization of poverty. - Gender and Behavior Vol. 4(1) 2006: 642-658
Family Structure, Race, and the
Feminization of Poverty.
Kniesner, Thomas J. And Others.
Abstract: For women, divorce or giving birth out of wedlock frequently accompanies entry
into poverty, while marriage or remarriage often results in exit from poverty. Since 1970,
the increase in the number of poor women greatly exceeded that of poor men, resulting in a
trend termed the feminization of poverty. In 1984, over 50 percent of black families with
children were headed by women.
The Feminization of Poverty.
Garza, Janet K. Weir
Abstract: After the definition of poverty and the the definition of feminization of
poverty, this paper cited U.S. Census data that includes earnings, family status, and
education attained which were posited as major factors for the economic condition of
women. The section on earnings presented female-dominated occupations, such as
secretaries, teachers, waitresses, and registered nurses, that characteristically had low
salaries along with the salary distributions of white and minority women
The Racialization and Feminization of Poverty?
Rebecca J. Emigh (UCLA), Eva Fodor, and Ivan Szelenyi (Yale University)
ABSTRACT: Poverty is usually studied as a persistent, unchanging social problems that, hopefully, can be ameliorated through
specific social policies. We ask how poverty changes during an epochal transformation, in
this case, the transition from econmies based on socialist redistribution to those based
on capitalist markets.
FEMINIZATION AND JUVENILIZATION OF POVERTY: Trends, Relative Risks,
Causes, and Consequences - Suzanne M. Bianchi - University of Maryland
This paper reviews trends in feminization of poverty and juvenilization of poverty showing that the
relative risks of poverty increased for women in the 1970s but decreased for working-age
women in the early 1980s. Relative risks of poverty increased for children between the
1970s and 1990s particularly in comparison with the elderly. The
increase in women's employment and decline in the gender wage gap enhanced the
likelihood that women remained above the poverty level. The decline in
manufacturing employment and “family wage” jobs for men increased the likelihood
that less-educated men fell into poverty in the early 1980s. These two factors
combined to halt the feminization of poverty among the working-age population.
A Different Type of Gender Gap: How Women and Men
Experience Poverty
Eva Fodor, Department of Gender Studies, Central European University.
East European Politics & Societies, Vol. 20, No. 1, 14-39 (2006)
While recent surveys do not find that poverty is feminized in post-communist Hungary, this
project explores gender differences in the experience of destitution.
Analysis Of Feminization Of Poverty Through The Denial of Access Of Female
Children to School: Case Of Rural Southeast Anatolia - LEYLA SEN, HISTORY
DEPARTMENT, BILKENT UNIVERSITY, TURKEY
Female children's access to resources is much more limited than the male ones owing to the
cultural values and traditional roles. In Turkey, impact of the enforced eight-year
compulsory primary education legislation is a glaring example. This legislation denied
female children the right of education, due to the extended graduation age from primary
school. This denial was justified by the cultural, social and religious norms. Female school age children are forced to live in a narrow
vicious circle. They have less chance for socialization
parallel to the increased labor burden and earlier marriage ages.
Schnepf, Sylke Viola (2006) The feminization of poverty in central and eastern
Europe: evidence from subjective data. University of Southampton
Abstract: The transition in countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) resulted in an
unprecedented rise of poverty in the region. The term ‘feminization of poverty’
suggests that women had to bear a higher share of transition costs than men. The small
number of studies examining the feminisation of poverty in transition countries is based
on household data assuming income pooling and equal sharing within households. This paper
shifts from household to individual data for estimating the feminisation of poverty.
Results of the cross-sectional data suggest that the feminisation of
poverty has already been a pre-transition phenomenon.
Female headship, feminization of poverty and welfare.
Kimenyi MS, Mbaku JM. - South Econ J. 1995 Jul;62(1):44-52.
Female-headed households are at greater risk of slipping into poverty than male-headed
households. Indeed, sex and marital status of the head of household are the most important
determinants of a family's poverty status in the US. Adjusting for differences in
propensities to establish female-headed households, the level of welfare benefits is
indeed an important factor in explaining the variation in the changes in the birth rates
to unmarried women. The use of a weighted measure suggests that welfare benefits have
played a significant role in the feminization of poverty.
The paradox of the advantaged elder and the feminization of poverty. -
Gonyea JG.
Boston University School of Social Work. - Soc Work. 1994 Jan;39(1):35-41.
This article explores the emergence of the concepts of the advantaged elder and the
feminization of poverty. The implications of societal perceptions of the advantaged elder
and the feminization of poverty for older women are addressed.
The feminization of poverty: A call for primary prevention
The Journal of Primary Prevention - Barbara Levy Simon
School of Social Work, Columbia University, 622 W. 113 St., 10025 New York, NY
Abstract Three-fourths of all poverty in the United States is now concentrated among women
and their children. The feminization of poverty is fueled by complex cultural and material
forces. To reduce and prevent the feminization of poverty, a systematic campaign that
confronts concomitantly each causal force is necessary.
THE “FEMINIZATION OF POVERTY” AND WOMEN’S HUMAN RIGHTS
Valentine M. Moghadam, Chief, SHS/HRS/GED
Abstract: An examination of the feminization of poverty around the world is
approached in terms of the three contributing factors that have been underscored in the
women-in-development and gender-and-development literature. The paper confirms that the poverty-inducing nature of neoliberal
restructuring has been especially severe on women. It should be recognized that the women among the poor suffer
doubly from the denial of their human rights, on account of gender inequality and on
account of poverty. Therefore, programs to eliminate or alleviate poverty require
attention to gender inequality and women’s human
rights.
Female Headship, Feminization of Poverty and Welfare
Mwangi S. Kimenyi, John Mukum Mbaku - Southern Economic Journal, Vol. 62, No. 1 (Jul.,
1995)
Black Americans and the Feminization of Poverty: The Intervening Effects of
Unemployment -
Harrell R. Rodgers, Jr. - Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 17, No. 4 (Jun., 1987), pp.
402-417.
The Feminization of Poverty: Only in America? Gertrude Schaffner Goldberg, Eleanor Kremen.
Feminist explanations for the feminization of poverty : An article from: Journal of Economic Issues - Steven Pressman.