Origins
Pearce (1978) noted that around two-thirds of the US poor in the 1970s were women and that female-headed households were rising fast. She argued that women's poverty stemmed not from individual misfortune but from labour market discrimination and the structure of welfare. Goldberg and Kremen's (1990) volume asked whether this was a uniquely American pattern and found similar, if varying, trends elsewhere.
Causes: family, market and state
Christopher and colleagues (2002) decomposed the gender poverty gap into family composition, market wage gaps and state transfers. Casper, McLanahan and Garfinkel (1994) showed large cross-national differences, with smaller gaps where women's employment and family support are strong. Orloff (1993) criticized welfare states built on a male-breadwinner model for weakening women's social citizenship, feeding debates on defamilialization. Career breaks for care also leave older women with small pensions.
Evidence and critiques
Brady and Kall (2008), using data from 1969 to 2000, found women's poverty risk higher than men's in nearly all rich democracies, though gaps and trends vary. Chant (2008) argued that in developing countries the concept focuses on income, missing time poverty and power relations, and may shift responsibility for poverty reduction onto women. Household-level income also hides intra-household inequality. The concept is used alongside social exclusion and the poverty trap.
FAQ
- What is the feminization of poverty in simple terms?
- A growing share of poor people are women, especially single mothers and older women.
- Why are women more likely to be poor?
- Gender pay gaps, career breaks for care, more lone-parent households and welfare designed around male breadwinners are key reasons.
Sources reviewed: 2026-10-26
References
- Pearce, D. (1978). The feminization of poverty: Women, work and welfare. Urban and Social Change Review, 11(1–2), 28–36. The article that coined the term.
- Goldberg, G. S., & Kremen, E. (Eds.). (1990). The feminization of poverty: Only in America? Greenwood Press. A cross-national edited comparison.
- Casper, L. M., McLanahan, S. S., & Garfinkel, I. (1994). The gender-poverty gap: What we can learn from other countries. American Sociological Review, 59(4), 594–605. Cross-national gender–poverty gaps.
- Christopher, K., England, P., Smeeding, T. M., & Phillips, K. R. (2002). The gender gap in poverty in modern nations: Single motherhood, the market, and the state. Sociological Perspectives, 45(3), 219–242. Single motherhood, market and state as causes.
- Brady, D., & Kall, D. (2008). Nearly universal, but somewhat distinct: The feminization of poverty in affluent Western democracies, 1969–2000. Social Science Research, 37(3), 976–1007. Long-run evidence from rich democracies.
- Chant, S. (2008). The 'feminisation of poverty' and the 'feminisation' of anti-poverty programmes: Room for revision? Journal of Development Studies, 44(2), 165–197. A critical rethink from development studies.
- Orloff, A. S. (1993). Gender and the social rights of citizenship: The comparative analysis of gender relations and welfare states. American Sociological Review, 58(3), 303–328. Brings gender into welfare state analysis.