User:Butterfly1980~enwiki/sandbox

Overview
The feminization of poverty is more than just an issue of finances. It is also about the lack of opportunities and an ability to achieve one's goals.

Discussion
Families with children make up 40% of the homeless population. Help is not available for all these families, as 20% of those seeking help are turned away. Female headed households represented half of all families under the poverty line. Current policies do not demonstrate a respect for parenting. Although, mothers have to sacrifice persuing a career to raise their children. When policy changes were made to force mothers to work, they still did not make enough to keep themselves and their children out of poverty.

The gender pay gap
"Worldwide, women earn on average slightly more than 50 percent of what men earn". Demographic factors influence how much men and women's pay differs. Although the pay gap is not quite as severe in the United States, our government fails to ............ Anderson, Binder and Krause found a "wage gap of about 15 percent per child in a cross section of working women." McDonald and Robb, tried to explain why never-married women make 96 cents per dollar of a man, while married women make 77 cents. They believe that this is the result of differing career patterns. Although, the pay gap has been closing, 77 percent is unacceptable for many women, if not all. This can not be explained by differing career choices. Women in the same career as men, often earn a lower percent than men after one year. The only noted exception was with a B.A in History.

Divorce
When a women gets divorced, her standard of living drops down to 73 percent. However, for a man, his standard of living goes up by 42 percent within that same year. This burden is on women because they leave the work force. When a women leaves the workforce, she sacrifices her pension, advancement opportunies, and higher pay. A women may have chosen to leave the workforce to care for her children, but this leaves her vulnerable, in the instance of divorce. Unfortunately, when a women becomes divorced or separated, they receive the lowest yearly incomes.

There have been some improvements with regards to this phenomenom. In the early 1980's there seemed to be a slowing in the trend of female poverty. There was a major decline in single-mother households.

Historical Background
Bianchi blames major shifts in the character of a women's social life for the emergence of a feminized poverty. These shifts included increases in nonmarriage especially among younger women. This complicated child support as well as limited the overall income of the family. Increased life span for women and a greater acceptance of divorce, in addition to the fact that social programs were not as effective for women than men.

Is there a Motherhood Penalty?
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