TY  - JOUR
AB  - “Feminisation of poverty” is a phrase heard frequently
today, not only in the popular press, but also in professional groups
concerned with women. It suggests that women living alone with their
children bear a disproportionate share of the poverty burden. The
following questions are discussed: Is this a crisis for American
society? Is the standard of living getting worse for women and children,
even as it improves for the general population? If it is, why is it
happening? And finally, what could be done about it? Data are examined
that show that “feminisation of poverty” is a significant
problem in the United States. The reasons women are more likely to be
poor include inadequate paying jobs, an expanding labourforce, and
unique problems associated with female head‐of‐households. Solutions to
feminisation of poverty include raising low income jobs via minimum wage
and comparable worth legislation, establishing and enforcing realistic
child support and spousal maintenance levels, significantly raising the
level of public support programmes for children, making available
reasonable education‐training‐retraining programmes for women,
emphasising the prevention of poverty, and providing better health
education and chemical dependency intervention.
VL  - 17
IS  - 5
SN  - 0306-8293
DO  - 10.1108/03068299010142708
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1108/03068299010142708
AU  - Lee Agee Marcia
AU  - Walker Roger W.
PY  - 1990
Y1  - 1990/01/01
TI  - Is There Any Truth to the Buzz Words “Feminisation of Poverty”?
T2  - International Journal of Social Economics
PB  - MCB UP Ltd
SP  - 18
EP  - 30
Y2  - 2024/04/20
ER  -