Men May Change the Face of Poverty in America
How Mass Layoffs May Halt the “Feminization of Poverty"
Apr 14, 2009
Who are the poor in America? Given the current economic meltdown the answer may be quite a bit different than the latest statistics available at Census.gov. The latest available numbers are based on 2007 statistics. According to the latest available data the poor in America are primarily women and children. 56% of those living in poverty are women and 36% are children. One out of every five children under the age of six in America lives in poverty. Half of all households living in poverty have a female head of household. Overall in 2007 there were 37 million people living in poverty in America. This represents 12.5% of the total population. The face of poverty has been increasingly associated with women. Social researchers have dubbed this global trend over the last fifty years the feminization of poverty. Job loss in the current economic downturn has disproportionately fallen into the construction and manufacturing industries. For this reason it should be of little surprise that it is mostly male workers who are filling the ranks of the unemployed. With no visible signs job creation in the near future it may only be a matter of time before large numbers of men and the households where they are primary wage earnings fall into poverty.
Unemployment Claims and Mass Layoffs Data
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics over 60% of jobs lost from October 2008 to March 2009 were in manufacturing and construction industries. Most of these jobs were related to companies putting into effect mass layoffs. The majority of these layoffs were for jobs filled by men. From March 2008 to February 2009 the number of unemployed men has increased by approximately 4 million while the number of unemployed women has increased by 1.5 million. The White House is forecasting a loss of an at least additional 2 million jobs in 2009. Even the most optimistic projections from the Obama White House put job creation from the President’s Stimulus Plan at 4 million jobs. This means that somewhere beyond the stimulus plan the economy needs to generate an additional 3.5 million jobs. These jobs may take many years to create. So when unemployment benefits run out we are likely to see a dramatic shift in the demographics of poverty that will put a halt to fifty years of the feminization of poverty. We are also certain to see more children living in poverty than any other time in American history.
Unemployment and Poverty: Estimating the Number of Poor in 2010
Reviewing data at Census.gov and BLS.gov the number of poor over the last 20 years has been approximately five times the number of unemployed. The number has mostly stayed between four to six times with brief spells under four and over six. The Labor Bureau reported 13.2 million unemployed workers in March 2009. Though this isn’t the best methodology for determining future projections it does implicate a very sobering possibility. By the time we get poverty data for 2010 we may be looking at a number of poor people in America larger than all but 25 to 30 of the largest countries in the world. And for the first time in decades the face of poverty in America may be masculine.
