Poverty in Global Perspective

Globally, be they single, mothers or seniors, women consistently comprise the majority of those who are in poverty. The historical overrepresentation of women in the pool of poverty suggests that there is a feminization of poverty. Societal laws about asset ownership, defects in the labor market, and the fact that motherhood reduces experience, thereby influencing wages, all work in tandem to condemn women to poverty. While the definitions of poverty are gender neutral, poverty operates on women in ways that put them more at risk for domestic violence and sexual exploitation and that erodes their equality of rights.