why do more women live in poverty
Why many retired women live in poverty. On average, senior women live on far less annual income than men. Gender inequality doesn't end at the workplace. For many women, the gender gap haunts them well into their retirement years, when far more women find themselves living in poverty. In fact, women are almost twice as likely as men to live below the poverty line during retirement, with single and minority women struggling the most (see chart).
The latest census figures show that in the U.S. women are more likely to live in poverty than men, particularly if theyâre raising families alone. In total, 14.5 percent of American women lived in poverty in 2012, compared to 11 percent of men. At every age women are more likely to be poor than men.
Here's what we learned from the in-depth report on how women are doing in post-recession America. 1  1 in 3 American women, 42 million women, plus 28 million children, either live in poverty or are right on the brink of it. 2  Nearly two-thirds of minimum wage workers are women, and these workers often get zero paid sick days.