Promoting the General Welfare: Legal Reform to Lift Women and Children in the United States Out of Poverty

I. INTRODUCTIONIt is no secret that women have long been economically disadvantaged in the United States. During the nation's first century, laws sanctioned female subjugation.1 Most notably, the United States legal system adopted the English common law principle of "coverture" whereby wives lacked legal status of their own and were instead "covered" by their "baron and lord" husbands.2 William Blackstone rationalized that "even the [disabilities], which the wife lies under, are for the [most] part intended for her protection and benefit. So great a favourite is the female [sex] of the laws of England."3 Like Blackstone, people in the United States often mischaracterized the financial barriers for women as affectionately protectionist.4 These mischaracterizations were perpetuated not just by English common law, but also by state statutes in the United States and even by early United States Supreme Court decisions, such as Bradwell v. Illinois 5 Upholding an Illinois statute banning women from the practice of law, the Court relied on the inferior status of women at common law to support the dubious conclusion that "[t]he natural and proper timidity and delicacy which belongs to the female sex evidently unfits it for many of the occupations of civil life."6Notwithstanding that grim pronouncement, the legal landscape for - women improved incrementally, and in fact had already begun to change when the Court decided Bradwell in 1873.7 Starting in the 1860s, most states enacted legislation giving women the power to contract and own property even after marriage.8 Subsequent feminist legal advancements included the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920, which made voting rights gender neutral.9 Late in the twentieth century, Congress passed landmark federal employment legislation, including the Pregnancy Discrimination Act10 and the Family and Medical Leave Act.* 11 The Court eventually overturned Bradwell in Reed v. Reed, although not for nearly a century.12Perhaps most salient for this discussion is the Equal Pay Act of 1963, legislation in which Congress intended to guarantee equal pay for equal work regardless of gender.13 Despite numerous legal reforms, the financial security of women in the United States remains severely compromised. Even the Equal Pay Act of 1963 has its limitations, considering that female workers in the United States, many in low-paying careers, earn about 20% less than their male counterparts.14 This and numerous other markers illustrate the economic crisis facing millions of women and their children in the United States.15 Nearly 40% of single mothers and their children subsist below the poverty level.16 Motherhood itself is in fact a negative economic indicator.17 The "maternal wall" is a well-documented but little publicized phenomenon where women's earning power decreases once they begin having children.18 Women with children earn less as a group than their male counterparts, but also earn less than their female childless counterparts.19 Mothers are also more likely to work part-time, which adds another layer to their economic disadvantage.20 The situation is bleakest for women and children of color, demonstrated most starkly by poverty rates for African-American and Hispanic children, hovering around 40% higher than those of Caucasian children.21 The disadvantage continues even into the golden years, with women sixty-five and older being twice as likely as men to live in poverty.22This Article examines the increasingly dire economic circumstances of poor women and children in the United States, emphasizing the disproportionate effects on minorities and domestic abuse victims. It also explains how the law can help resolve this crisis. Part II describes the dreadful economic state of women and children in the United States, examining both cause and effect and highlighting the strong predictors of divorce and domestic violence. Part III explains the role of federally-funded programs and budget strategies in eradicating the problem. …