Did You Know: Focus on Women in Poverty

Did You Know: Focus on Women in Poverty

Did you know that 1 in 8 women in the United States—just under 16 million Americans—lived in poverty in 2017?

According to the National Women’s Law Center’s National Snapshot: Poverty Among Women & Families Report (2018), the US Census Bureau reported that while families are seeing general economic growth, women’s poverty rates are still far higher than men’s. In fact, women were 38% more likely to live in poverty than men and more than 2 in 5 of those women were living in extreme poverty, meaning their income was at or below 50 percent of the Federal Poverty Level.

Looking more in depth at these numbers, it’s clear certain groups of women and children are disproportionately affected by poverty. Approximately 1 in 5 Black and 1 in 5 Native women lived in poverty in 2017. Single mothers were also more likely to live in poverty, with the NWLC reporting that over half of all poor children (58%) lived in families headed by unmarried mothers, and more than 1 in 3 families headed by an unmarried mother lived in poverty.

There are countless negative effects of persistently living in poverty to both women and children with education and mental and physical health typically showing the biggest impact. Inter-Faith Ministries works to combat the harmful side effects of poverty by offering case management and life skill classes to all clients staying in our shelters or low-income affordable apartments.

Please consider donating to help fund our Emergency Women’s Winter Shelter (open through March 31) and low-income apartments which have together served more than 270 women in poverty since July 2018.

Call Now Button