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

Resource Page | State-By-State Poverty Data from the 2010 Census

September 22, 2011

Updated September 23, 2011

These 51 fact sheets provide state-specific information on poverty and economic insecurity for women and their families based on NWLC's analysis of 2010 Census and Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Click on your state below to find statistics on the poverty rates among women and children, the wage gap, health insurance coverage for women and children, and women's unemployment.

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Reports & Toolkits | Poverty Among Women and Families, 2000-2010: Extreme Poverty Reaches Record Level as Congress Faces Critical Choices

September 16, 2011

2010 marked the first full year of the recovery that began when the “Great Recession” officially ended in June 2009 but the latest Census Bureau data show that rates of poverty and extreme poverty rose in 2010, hitting women and families hardest. 

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Resource Page | Analysis of New 2010 Census Poverty Data – September 2011

September 08, 2011

NWLC Analysis of New Census Data Shows Record Numbers of Women in Poverty, Without Health Insurance

Updated September 22, 2011

Update: see also our state-by-state breakdown of poverty data.

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Reports & Toolkits | Protecting Programs for Low-Income People in Deficit Reduction Plans Is Vital to Women and Their Families

August 23, 2011

Women and their families should not bear the brunt of deficit reduction.  Any agreement on deficit reduction must neither cut low-income assistance programs directly nor subject these programs to future cuts under automatic enforcement mechanisms.  Increased revenues from those with the greatest ability to pay must be a major part of any deficit reduction plan.  Maintaining and strengthening programs like those described in this report protects the most vulnerable today and expands opportunity for a stronger shared future. 

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Reports & Toolkits | Poverty Among Women and Families, 2000-2009: Great Recession Brings Highest Rate in 15 Years

September 21, 2010

The latest Census Bureau data show a significant and alarming increase in poverty and extreme poverty among women, men and children in the United States in 2009. Poverty among women rose to 13.9 percent, up from 13.0 percent in 2008 — the highest rate in 15 years and the largest single-year increase since 1980.

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