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  • Title: Women and poverty: a demographic overview.
    Author: Wilson JB.
    Journal: Women Health; 1987; 12(3-4):21-40. PubMed ID: 3448820.
    Abstract:
    In the current debate about causes and cures for poverty, much attention is given to women. Women are more likely than men to be poor, and once impoverished, to remain poor for longer periods of time than do men. In addition, a much greater responsibility for raising the next generation of adults belongs to poor women than to poor men. No individual policy response will alleviate poverty among women. Rather, a multi-faceted policy response that recognizes the wide diversity of their situations is necessary. This paper describes the diversity among poor women and suggests a series of appropriate policies. In the current debate about the causes of and cures for poverty, much attention has been focused on women. Women are generally more likely than men to be poor and to remain poor for longer periods of time. By ignoring the diversity of the poor female population, policy makers fail to develop policies that address the needs of poor women in all categories. Instead, stereotypical descriptions of poor women and quick-fix solutions abound. Wilson examines the diverse characteristics of poor women and offers suggestions for more helpful policies. Wilson describes poor women in a series of statements, a sample of which follow. 1) Women who head their own households are nearly 5 times as likely to be poor as men who head their own households. 2) Over the past 2 1/2 decades, the share of poor people living in female-headed households has risen from 18% to 35%. 3) There are as many poor married women as poor women who head households. 4) Over the past 15 years, the average size of poor female-headed households has declined somewhat. 5) Only 1 in 5 poor women with children heading their own households receives any financial support from their children's fathers. 6) Nearly 6 in 10 poor women heading households received public assistance in 1984. Multiple strategies to combat poverty among poor women must be instituted. The most important antipoverty strategy is creation of a productive, high-employment economy. Most poor women work, but have low wages and too few work hours. Other helpful policies include raising the minimum wage, providing health coverage to uninsured or inadequately insured working poor families, and increasing financial support for child care. Improving the educational system, discouraging high school drop-outs, and discouraging early pregnancy would also help, as would enforcing child support payments and extending public assistance to 2-parent families in poverty. Increasing benefit levels to all eligible households would further diminish poverty. None of these strategies is effective alone; only a multifaceted antipoverty strategy will be effective.
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