RUNNING HEAD: WOMEN IN POVERY OPION PIECE

Kevin Rangel
RWS 1302
April 29, 2016
Opinion Piece: Women in Poverty.
Life can be a difficult task to many people but to a select few it may seem like an
impossible task to overcome. If you were to travel to any place in the United States you would
see a lot of things, some good and some bad, one of the problems you will probably see in the
United States is poverty and especially in women. In the United Stated and around the world
there is a lot of poverty but one of the harsher ones is the poverty found in women. Women go
through inequality obstacles their whole
life weather they are poor or not, being
poor does not change the fact that they
will not be treated equally to men in
fact they can go through even more
inequality making poverty a harder
obstacle in life.
There is a reason why women
go through poverty more than men and
that is because domestic and violence
abuse in families can lead to poverty
and women are the ones that face this
problem more than men ever will. Most women when asked wished they had not married
compared to men asked the same question (The Atlantic, 2014). In comparison to men women

also suffer in the

workplace, even if a
woman was to obtain a
job they would still win
less money than men
(Time, 2014). Due to the
inequality in the workplace and the inequality in social life women have more risks of falling
into poverty and staying there than men do in life.
Once women go into poverty not much can be said about the life they lead. People in
poverty can suffer a lot but women face tremendous obstacles. Most women while in poverty
will not only have to look over themselves but most of the time they will have family members
that need taking care of (Time, 2014). They will need to find ways to provide for these family
members which may include children. Women may resort to illegal means for example
prostitution and/or selling illegal goods.
I believe that poverty found in women is a very serious manner and it is not taken as
serious as it should be. Even though there are homes that provide some form of sanctuary for
these women often times if not most of the times this is not enough for women to get through life
and out of poverty where no one belongs. When people think of poverty in the United States they
do not think of women but of men, when it is women who get the harsher end of poverty. Most
of the times if women go through poverty their children will too therefore inducing not only
poverty in women but in children too. Policies need to change in order for this to end. There
needs to be more information made public and available about women and poverty and just how
bad it is for them. There also needs to be a change in governmental help, they need to place

RUNNING HEAD: WOMEN IN POVERY OPION PIECE

homes that will provide even more resources for them to move on and out of poverty. Help that
will be for them if and when they need it. All of this explains how rough women have it going
for them especially during poverty. Things need to change if anything is expected to become
better. Even though people have gone through horrible circumstances and obstacles they have
still managed to change and overcome adversities.

References
Alter, C. (2014, January 13). 11 Surprising Facts About Women and Poverty From the
Shriver Report. Retrieved April 29, 2016, from http://time.com/2026/11-surprising-facts-aboutwomen-and-poverty-from-the-shriver-report/
Shriver, M. (2014, January 8). The Female Face of Poverty. Retrieved April 29, 2016,
from http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/01/the-female-face-of-poverty/282892/
Pictures:
K. (2013, November 19). Poverty, women & rape culture. Retrieved April 29, 2016, from
http://thestandard.org.nz/poverty-women-rape-culture/
Klaver, M. (n.d.). Poverty In U.S. Schools. Retrieved April 29, 2016, from
https://www.emaze.com/@AOCITFZR/Poverty-In-U.S.-Schools