Latest Poverty Data Highlights Critical Need to Strengthen the Social Safety Net

Women 35% More Likely to Be Poor Than Men

September 10, 2009 -

The Census Bureau report issued today indicates that the national poverty rate rose to 13.2% in 2008, the highest rate since 1997, reflecting the impact of the recession that began in December 2007.  The poverty rate will almost certainly rise again in 2009 as unemployment has been even higher in 2009 than in 2008.

The large gender poverty gap that has persisted since poverty measurement began in the 1960’s continued in 2008.  Adult women were thirty five percent more likely to be poor than adult men in 2008, with a poverty rate of 13.0% compared to the 9.6% rate for men.   15.2 million adult women were poor, compared to 10.6 million adult men. Legal Momentum today issued a report detailing the disparities, Reading Between the Lines: Women's Poverty in the United States, 2008.

Legal Momentum President Irasema Garza states, “The increased poverty and the continuing gender poverty gap underscore the need for a social safety net that is accessible and adequate. Currently, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, the national welfare program for families with children, is neither: only a minority of eligible poor families are receiving benefits and the assistance provided fails to cover even the most basic essentials of food and shelter. The increasingly large plague of poverty in America warrants an equally strong response: Congress and the Administration must act to reform TANF now.”

 

For more information on Legal Momentum’s work to strengthen the social safety and reform Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, visit Social Safety Net at www.LegalMomentum.org.

About Legal Momentum 
Founded in 1970, Legal Momentum is the nation's oldest legal defense and education fund dedicated to advancing the rights of women and girls.

###