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This chapter analyses the links between neo-liberal economic policies and women’s substantive enjoyment of human rights. It examines the association between two different discourses: human rights and economic efficiency, and the experience of women, particularly poor women in the era of neo-liberal economic policies. Alternative approaches to economic policy that would promote social justice for poor women are considered.

This chapter examines women's poverty in Italy. It first describes some of the structural conditions that contribute to the main risks of poverty for women, such as their exclusion from the labor market and the absence of policies to support the cost of children; costs in terms of both time and economic resources. It then reviews the conditions of different types of poor families and the social policies that contribute to, or alleviate, poverty. It first considers lone-mother families and married couples with minor children where women play a fundamental role in managing budgets that are not sufficient to meet the needs of the family. It then examines the condition of older women, showing how, within a framework of a general capacity of the Italian welfare system to protect older people, they are at risk of poverty due to their past weakness in the labor market and to longevity that is often accompanied by a loss of self-sufficiency. The chapter also examines immigrant women, distinguishing between lone mothers living with their children in Italy and “long distance” lone mothers, who provide for the subsistence of their children and other members of their family through remittances.

This chapter takes up the perspective of poor women in two-thirds of the world, out of the conviction that we will not understand prosperity without addressing the ethics and economics of poverty. It explores the global gender gap and the effects of economic policies on women. It describes the approach of ecofeminism in the work of Ivone Gerbara and examines some existing programs of solidarity and empowerment. It evaluates the situation of Latin American women working in maquilas with help of ecofeminist analysis and the work of Amartya Sen.

This chapter summarizes the key data on women's poverty in the United Kingdom and explores the impact of recent policy on two key groups: sole mothers and lone elderly women. It shows that poverty rates have been falling, but that poverty is still a major problem affecting millions of people, sometimes over a period of many years. There are also many people who are on the margins of poverty, with little security in the short or longer term. Women are more at risk of poverty than men, especially women who live alone or who are solely responsible for dependent children. However, the poverty gap between women and men has narrowed substantially since the mid-1990s. This reflects the fall in poverty rates for sole mothers and single elderly women. Women have increased opportunities for financial independence through their own employment, but having children still leads women to have lower employment participation rates and opportunities than men.

This chapter examines women's poverty in the United States. Poverty remains feminized in the United States despite reduction in official poverty levels of both single mothers and lone elderly women since the mid-1990s. Yet, the poverty rates of both groups remain high, whether based on the very low, static, and unrealistic threshold of the United States, or more realistic, relative or absolute standards that register higher rates. Minority status stands along with gender in both risk and prevalence of poverty; and the less educated, as well, are more prone to poverty. Consequently, there is a need for anti-poverty strategies that target inequalities of gender, race, and class.

This chapter examines a question posed by earlier research: “whether the countries with policies that allow solo mothers to form an autonomous household with little risk of poverty crystallize into a cluster corresponding to a particular welfare state regime”. The question is extended to older lone women. A subsequent section deals with the heterogeneity of both groups of lone women and its relationship to their poverty. The text then turns to the labor market, providing data on the gender gaps in employment and wages generally, and, specifically, on lone mothers. Finally, the poverty of the two groups of lone women is analyzed from the perspective of two sources of income: the market and government transfers.

This chapter begins with an overview of the book, which is a cross-national study of the feminization of poverty, or, the predominance of women among the poor. It asks whether this phenomenon, first identified in the United States, occurs in other rich countries. It then discusses the poverty experienced by married and single women, single mothers, and elderly women. It also explains the selection of the eight countries included in the study.

This chapter begins with a discussion of the key factors that influence the changing profile of Canadian inequality and marginalization. These include the growth in precarious employment; the discourse and direction of government spending, including the income-based policies that are particularly important to lone mothers and elderly women; and the level of commitment shown to gender equity. The next two sections explore, in turn, the economic well-being of lone mothers and elderly women, the factors that underlie Canada's declining poverty rates, and the current challenges posed by precarious employment. The chapter concludes by assessing the degree to which poverty in Canada is feminized.

This chapter identifies the economic, social, and equal opportunity policies that facilitate women's achievement of an acceptable standard of living, or an escape from poverty independent of family relations. Following discussion of policies conducive to this goal of de-familialization, two policies are highlighted: minimum-income guarantees and full employment. After considering economic and political resources for reducing the poverty of women, the discussion compares Sweden and the United States, two study countries that differ widely in social policies and the achievement of de-familialization. Finally, notwithstanding the difficulty of foreseeing the future in a time of crisis, there is an attempt to look ahead.

This chapter discusses women's poverty in France, particularly that of lone mothers and lone elderly women. The poverty of lone mothers stems from their position in the labor market. Lone mothers are two times more likely to be unemployed, and the majority of them for more than 1 year. Among young mothers less than age 35, the unemployment rate of lone mothers is twice that of those who are partnered (32% vs. 16%). Available data and the review of social policies, show that the poverty of lone-aged women is not a central issue in France. Aged people are universally considered the main beneficiaries of the Trente Glorieuses (30 glorious years). There is no specific measure to combat the poverty of this group.

This chapter explores how and why the poverty of women has become apparent as an issue in contemporary Japan. It argues that the mechanisms that force women into poverty were already functioning in Japanese society, even at the time of the economic boom of the late 1980s. It is likely that these mechanisms were simply rendered invisible due to a number of factors. It is also conceivable that this phenomenon was already deeply rooted in the relationships among families, women, and the company society system that was built by large corporations after World War II. The first part of the chapter analyzes the characteristics of the social welfare system during the establishment and consolidation of the company society system, in order to consider how these are connected to current poverty among women. The second part focuses on single mothers and elderly women, presenting a number of indicators of their poverty.

This chapter discusses women's poverty in Germany. Topics covered include the distribution and development of poverty in Germany, the male breadwinner model and its differential impact on West and East German women, and support for gender equality.

This chapter initially presents the specific matrix of Swedish policies that has contributed to low poverty rates, with special emphasis on women's employment and social rights. It then describes the challenge to the Swedish welfare state in the 1990s — an era of economic crisis and retrenchment — and the major policy responses. The main part of the chapter offers an analysis of the economic situation of solo mothers and single elderly women in the middle of the first decade of this century (mid-2000s), taking 1990 as benchmark for comparison. Central to the analysis is the question of whether policy changes since 1990 have led to a feminization of poverty in Sweden.

Examines criticisms and defenses of the “viability” criterion, which was introduced in Roe v. Wade to mark the cutoff for nontherapeutic abortions. The viability criterion opened a six‐month window for “abortion on demand,” which was (and remains) unusual by worldwide standards. Examines the origins of the viability cutoff and shows that it was introduced in later drafts of Blackmun's opinion because it was thought to be more compatible than other proposed cutoffs with the privacy‐based reasoning articulated in Roe. The rationale used by the Supreme Court is both mistaken and less relevant given abortion procedures available today. Because the six‐month time span for abortion on demand has deepened social divisions on abortion, has generated restrictions that unfairly burden poor and young women, and is not required to give women adequate access to abortion, new criteria for regulating legal abortion need to be developed.

This chapter presents some concluding thoughts from the author. It begins with a review of the stories of the women in the preceding chapters. Despite their differences — these women's paths to welfare, their various experiences with education and training programs, and their readiness for work — all are similar, having raised their children for a time in poverty. Welfare reforms, and their impact on women and children, are discussed.

This chapter tells the story of Sandy, a 24-year-old single mother of a five-year old. She is still recuperating from her time on AFDC, and her financial reserves are low. Sandy used AFDC for about two and a half years, from the time her daughter was a couple of months old until she turned three. Like many AFDC recipients, Sandy started using AFDC as a teenage mother, shortly after the birth of her daughter.

This chapter tells the story of Cora, who has been on AFDC all her adult life. She began using AFDC twenty-four years ago and has continued, without a break, ever since. In so many respects, her life mirrors our image of the classic welfare stereotype. She comes from a poor family and will leave her children — there are six of them — with a legacy of poverty and neglect that they will not be able to shake. The children have no role model in their mother of a working, productive member of society. Neither do they have a model of a law-abiding citizen. Cora never had these role models either, and for years she has lived in the projects where she is surrounded by poverty, crime, and drug abuse.

This chapter details the experience of a woman called Ana who is living on a tight budget. She is not on welfare anymore, although she was for a short time. Over the past year she has received income from three different sources, one at a time. First she was working; then she received welfare; and finally she obtained worker's compensation. Now she is working again, and all her income comes from her job. In the process, she slipped from working-class status to the bottom.

This chapter tells the story of Rebecca, a 23-year-old woman with a six-year old daughter, Tanya. Tanya is Rebecca's first priority; she is the center. Rebecca came alive when she became a mother, and now she is working as hard as she can to make a comfortable, stable home for her daughter.