Poverty and the Wage Gap Both Hurt Women and Families

Census Bureau data released yesterday show that women continue to experience high rates of poverty and a nasty wage gap.

In 2012, the poverty rate for women was 14.5 percent, substantially higher than men’s rate of 11 percent. Nearly 17.8 million women lived in poverty last year.

Poverty rates were particularly high for families headed by single mothers – more than four in ten (40.9 percent) were poor. More than half (56.1 percent) of poor children lived in female-headed families in 2012.

The poverty rates for other vulnerable groups of women were also high: black women (25.1 percent), Hispanic women (24.8 percent), and women 65 and older living alone (18.9 percent).

The wage gap figures also paint a bleak picture for many women.

The cold hard facts are that women working full time, year round continue to be paid only 77 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts, and the numbers are far worse for women of color, at 64 cents for black women and 54 cents for Hispanic women.

With women as primary breadwinners in over 40% of families today, women and their families simply cannot afford to make do with less.

Closing the wage gap and reducing poverty share common solutions:

• Raise the minimum wage and tipped minimum wage which will immediately raise the living standards of millions of women and families, since women make up two-thirds of minimum-wage earners.
• Make investments in workforce training opportunities for women to enter into higher-paying, nontraditional jobs and end discrimination against women in these jobs.
• Make high-quality, affordable child care accessible to all.
• Put in place workplace policies and practices that allow workers to care for their families without paying a huge economic penalty.
• End pay and other forms of workplace discrimination against women, including pregnancy discrimination and discrimination against women workers with caregiving responsibilities.

Women and their families deserve better. So let's do better. Remember, Women Are Not WorthLess.