The feminization of poverty in the United States: Contemporary issues and interventions

The purpose of this research project was to understand how it can be that women, as a group, are consistently more impoverished and face more hardships than men. This was accomplished by first examining the specific predictors of poverty among women. The second purpose of this project was to understand what can be done to address the feminization of poverty. By reviewing the program evaluation literature, the project was able to determine which programs have been successful at alleviating poverty among women. Findings demonstrate that while there are many personal factors that may increase the risk of poverty among women, social factors, such as job opportunity, the devaluation of work that women do, access to contraception, domestic violence, and role expectations, have the most influence on whether or not women become impoverished. Programs that encourage and foster social capital and networking, those that offer placement in actual career trajectories, and those that focus on job training, skills, and education are the most effective at lifting women out of poverty. The implications of these findings taken together are discussed in terms of social work policy and practice