Feminization Of Poverty Essay

Feminization of poverty is the trend of women headed households being under the poverty line (Andersen, 2015). The rise of single mother homes has made a large impact on the poor women and children that are under the poverty line. This causes utilization of welfare and public services to rise as well. Feminization of poverty is a growing problem in the US as more and more women are being left to take care of children on just their minimum wage or low paying jobs. The absent male parent causes the income to decrease in the household, especially if the mother is not receiving any monetary help.
The median family income in 2012 for families with a husband present was $64,053, while families with absent fathers income was only $34,002 (Andersen, 2015). That number is almost half and there is still children in the house to support. The income also decreases with different races. With the number of women headed household the limited opportunities in the labor market are a cause for these families to be the working poor. Examples or this would include low paying restaurant jobs, or higher paying jobs that are geared more towards men. These would be jobs such as landscaping and construction that are better paying, with a high turnover rate, but typically jobs for men. Childcare also causes women headed households problems due to the
Until men become increasingly pursued for financial responsibility and women’s wages are high enough to support a family above the poverty level, the problem will not be solved. Allowing for single mother families to use welfare benefits to get out of the poverty hole and into a stable well-paying job would be a better use of government assistance and actually help them for the future of the families. The greatest benefit will be to lessen the gap in men’s pay and women’s pay, allowing women to support their family on a single income if the need