Data on Poverty & Income

Poverty is a women’s issue. Nearly six in ten poor adults are women, and more than half of all poor children live in families headed by women. Poverty rates are especially high for single mothers, women of color, and elderly women living alone.

In addition to the resources below, please see NWLC's detailed analysis of the 2011 Census poverty data, as well as past reports on women's income and poverty rates.

Highlights

Reports & Toolkits | Insecure and Unequal: Poverty and Income Among Women and Families, 2000-2011

September 17, 2012

This report provides a gender analysis of national Census data for 2011, released by the Census Bureau in September 2012. The National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) supplies this analysis, as it has for several years, because little information broken out by gender is available directly from the Census Bureau's series of reports titled Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States. Insecure and Unequal provides a snapshot of poverty and income data in 2011 – and changes in poverty and the wage gap from 2010 to 2011 and since 2000  - for women, men, children, and families by race, ethnicity and age.

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Fact Sheet | National Snapshot: Poverty Among Women & Families, 2011

September 13, 2012

Census data released in September 2012 show that poverty rates started to stabilize in 2011 after several years of increases, as the economy slowly recovered from the Great Recession that began in late 2007 – but that left poverty among women and children at or near historically high levels.  Poverty rates for all groups of women in 2011 were higher than for their male counterparts.

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Fact Sheet | Poverty Rates by State, 2011

September 20, 2012

Poverty rates for all groups of women were high in 2011, particularly for some groups of women of color and female headed-families. This table details the 2011 poverty rates for groups of women and children in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

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Fact Sheet | Summary Table: Poverty Rates Among Women, Men, and Children, 2011, 2010, 2000

September 17, 2012

Census data released in September 2012 show that poverty rates for all groups of women in 2011 were higher than for their male counterparts. This table provides data on poverty rates for women, men, children, and families by race, ethnicity, and age.

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More Resources

Fact Sheet | Still No Recovery for Women in the Manufacturing Sector: Manufacturing Employment Trends for Women and Men, 2008-2013

March 25, 2013

After decades of job losses, U.S. manufacturing has started to make a comeback—but women are not sharing in these gains.  Men gained 535,000 manufacturing jobs between January 2010 and February 2013, while women lost 18,000 manufacturing jobs over the same period. As policymakers focus on promoting manufacturing employment in the U.S., they should ensure that women share in this growth.

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Fact Sheet | Cutting Programs for Low-Income People Especially Hurts Women and Their Families

March 14, 2013

As Congress debates spending priorities and deficit reduction measures, it must protect programs for low-income families and individuals and ensure that deficit reduction does not increase poverty. 

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Fact Sheet | Wage Gap FAQs

October 05, 2012

The typical American woman who worked full time, year round was still paid only 77 cents for every
dollar paid to her male counterpart in 2011.1 For women of color, the gap was even larger. This fact sheet provides details about the wage gap measure that the Census and the National Women’s Law Center use, factors contributing to the wage gap, and how to shrink the gap.

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Infographics and Internet Memes | Federal and State Programs Lift the Incomes of Millions of Americans Above the Poverty Line

September 21, 2012

Congress is about to choose between protecting programs for struggling families and expanding tax cuts for millionaires. That choice should be easy.

Infographic: Federal and State Programs Lift the Incomes of Millions of Americans Above the Poverty Line

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Fact Sheet | Poverty Rates by State, 2011

September 20, 2012

Poverty rates for all groups of women were high in 2011, particularly for some groups of women of color and female headed-families. This table details the 2011 poverty rates for groups of women and children in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

 Read more...