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 2012 Census poverty data, as well as past reports on women's income and poverty rates.

Highlights

Reports & Toolkits | Insecure & Unequal: Poverty Among Women and Families 2000-2012

September 26, 2013

This report provides a gender analysis of national and state poverty and income data for 2012, released by the Census Bureau in September 2013.

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Fact Sheet | National Snapshot: Poverty Among Women & Families, 2012

September 18, 2013

The poverty rates for women, like poverty rates overall, remained at historically high levels in 2012, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released in September 2013. Women’ poverty rates were once again substantially above the poverty rates for men.

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Fact Sheet | FAQs about the Census Bureau’s Official Poverty Measure

September 19, 2013

Each year, the Census Bureau releases data on poverty and income in the United States, and the National Women’s Law Center analyzes these data to provide a picture of how women and their families are faring. The following frequently asked questions take a closer look at what the Census Bureau numbers tell us—and don’t tell us—about poverty.

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Infographics and Internet Memes | Women and Poverty, State by State

September 24, 2013

More than one in seven women, nearly 17.8 million, 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.
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More Resources

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.

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Fact Sheet | 2011 Wage Gap: State Rankings

September 20, 2012

NWLC has calculated the 2011 wage gap for each state from the U.S. Census state income data released on September 20, 2012. View our new table to see where each state falls.

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