■Mothers are more likely than others to be poor. The poverty rate among
female-headed households is more than double that of married couple
families. Nearly half of all poor families are depending on a mother alone
to support them (American Community Survey 2009).
■The elderly are less likely than others to be poor. A generation ago, in
1967, 30 percent of Americans over the age of 65 were living in poverty.
By 2004, government intervention through such programs as Social
Security, subsidized housing and food, and Medicare lowered the
poverty rate to 9.8 percent, a little less than the elderly population in
general (12.4 percent). Another 20 percent are “nearly poor,” accord-
ing to the Roper Poll. However, poverty places more of a burden on eld-
erly people than others. They are more likely to suffer from chronic
illnesses that require expensive treatment (my mother takes a dozen pills
a day, and if she had no health insurance, her monthly pharmacy bill
would run about $1,000). They are more likely to live alone and lack
the social support networks that other poor people use to get by. And,
as the population ages and people live longer, the government subsidy
safety nets will be strained to the breaking point.The Feminization of Poverty
Social scientists often argue that poverty is also being increasingly
“feminized”—that is, women compose an increasing number of poor
people. The image of the itinerant (male) pauper has largely faded,
replaced today by a single mother. This feminization of povertyhas never been more
obvious; of the poor over the age of 18, 61 percent are women and 39 percent are
men. Of all poor families, women head 51 percent. During the past 40 years, the
number of single-parent families headed by women has more than doubled (U.S. Bu-
reau of the Census, 2006). In 2000, 11 percent of all families in the United States
lived in poverty, but 28 percent of families headed by single mothers did so (Dalakar,
2001). Supporting a family is difficult for single mothers because women’s salaries
are often lower anyway, and many single mothers have left the labor force or paused
their education when they had children. The lack of adequate child supports in the
United States—from parental leave to affordable day care to adequate health care—
exacerbates the problem (McLanahan and Kelly, 2006). For women of color and their
children, these problems can be even more acute (U.S. Census Bureau, 2006).
This disparity is echoed in the global arena. In poor coun-
tries, women suffer double deprivation, the deprivation of liv-
ing in a poor country and the deprivation imposed because
they are women. In high-income countries, women live much
longer than men: 8.26 years in France, 7.35 years in Switzer-
land, 6.55 years in the United States. But in low-income coun-
tries, the gap in life expectancy is much narrower: 3.20 years
in Zaire, 2.40 years in Sudan, 1.10 years in India. In Nepal
and Guinea, the gap is even reversed: Men live slightly longer
than women. Some commentators believe that the reason for
the narrowed gap in life expectancy is a high death rate among
themen,due to high levels of crime, occupational accidents,
and chronic warfare. But certainly women suffer in societies
where their life chances are composed entirely of bearing and
raising children.222 CHAPTER 7STRATIFICATION AND SOCIAL CLASSThe “feminization of poverty”
is a global phenomenon. In
rich, poor, and emerging
economies worldwide, women
are over represented among
the impoverished. n
It costs more to be poor. Strange as it
sounds, the poor must pay more for
essential goods and services:- Housing. Renting rooms by the week or
apartments by the month costs more than
signing a lease. - Food. Cheap housing has no kitchen, so
you must subsist on more costly takeout.
If you have a kitchen, supermarkets are
often miles away, so you have to buy
your food at expensive convenience
stores. - Furniture. Without a credit card, you can’t
buy furniture or appliances, so you rent
them, for two or three times the price. - Money. You probably can’t get a checking
account, and so you cash your checks at
a check-cashing service and pay your bills
with money orders (for hefty fees).
Didyouknow
?