The feminization of poverty: A call for primary prevention

Three-fourths of all poverty in the United States is now concentrated among women and their children. This impoverishment is growing at an alarming rate, particularly among women who are not married-those who are single parents, those who are widows or never married women over the age of 65, and those who are displaced homemakers.The feminization of poverty is fueled by complex cultural and material forces: cultural conceptions of women as dependents of men; the sexual division of labor within families; endemic racism in private and public realms; the dichotomous labor market and welfare system; and the pervasive discrimination that women and girls still encounter in schooling, housing, and at work. To reduce and prevent the feminization of poverty, a systematic campaign that confronts concomitantly each causal force is necessary. Such a campaign is detailed herein.