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Other articles in Part 3 Working poor dominate poverty rolls Graphs: poverty rate trends; poverty and education; geographic area Suburbs thrive; cities, rural area fall behind Most poor people don't stay that way Graphs: poverty rate by race, ethnicity; age; household Oregon's children and poverty Elders face poverty as they grow older Disability and chronic poverty Poverty and minorities Related links Center for the Study of Women in Society, University of Oregon Children's Defense Fund 1998 Oregon Profile Annie E. Casey Foundation/Kids Count Data

Women and children most likely to be poor story by Carol Savonen Both men and women, young and old, experience poverty. But compared to men, more women and children are poor in the United States. U.S. Census statistics for 1995 bear this out: *Two-thirds of all the poor adults in the United States are women. *Children under 18 make up about 40 percent of the country's poor, yet are only 18 percent of the population. In Oregon, the trends are the same-single mothers and their children tend to account for an excessive number of the poor. Ninety-two percent of the families on welfare in Oregon are single-parent households headed by women. According to "The State of Oregon's Families Report," by the Center for the Study of Women in Society at the University of Oregon: *Thirty percent of the households headed by single women in Oregon live below the poverty level, almost twice the rate for households headed by single men. *On average, only 43 percent of female-headed families in Oregon received child support or alimony in 1993-1997. Thirty percent of court-ordered child support was not paid in Oregon in 1998. Social scientists have coined phrases such as "the feminization of poverty" and "the pauperization of motherhood" to describe these trends. Divorce rates rose from the 1950s to the 1970s, as did the number of single mothers choosing to raise children alone, explained Clara Pratt, OSU professor of family studies, and Sally Bowman, OSU Extension family development specialist. Single mothers carry a huge financial burden compared to two-parent households. Single mothers and their families have extra barriers to economic success, according to Pratt and Bowman. For example: *It often takes two working adults to bring a family over the poverty line, a change from the past when one wage earner could often support a family. *Single moms bear the brunt of the financial burden for their children. Since women generally have custody of the children, they end up paying for most of their support, including childcare. Full time childcare costs range from $4,000 to $10,000 a year, a significant amount when one out of three families with young children earns less than $25,000 per year. *Single mothers are not always able to work as much as they need to. They often give up some employment opportunities in order to care for their kids. *Women earn less per hour than men. For every $1 a man earns, an Oregon woman earns 69.6 cents. Nationally, women earn 72.3 cents for every dollar a man earns. *Women generally have lower paying jobs and fewer promotions. Too many women hit a "glass ceiling," where they are often passed up for promotions because, among other reasons, they have taken time off work for motherhood or caring for dependents, said Pratt and Bowman. With less working time and lower wages, in turn, there are lower retirement savings and Social Security for women. According to the Wall Street Journal, the average monthly Social Security benefit for retired women in 1995 was $621-almost $189 less than the average paid to men.   Article 4 of 10 in Part 3   back to top

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