Poverty and Gender: Determinants of Female- and Male-Headed Households with Children in Poverty in the USA, 2019

Attaining economic parity and reducing poverty between the genders are critical steps toward attaining the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Despite progress, women in the US still earn USD 0.83 for every USD 1.00 that a man earns. With rising shares of single/female-headed households with children in American society in recent years, such gaps in earnings exacerbate the misery of children living in such households. In 2019, female-headed households with children had poverty rates almost twice (36.5%) that of single/male-headed families (16.3%). This paper uses five-year American Community Survey estimates from the National Historical Geographic Information System to empirically examine the spatial distribution and determinants of female-versus-male-headed households with children living in poverty in the counties of the USA. Lower levels of educational attainment are associated with higher levels of poverty for both genders. A bachelor’s degree in education is associated with higher poverty for female-headed households, whereas majoring in business, sciences, engineering, and arts/humanities is associated with lower poverty for male-headed households. Service-sector occupations inherently contribute to higher poverty for both groups. Over-representation in management/professional and natural-resources, construction, and maintenance-type occupations works well for male-headed households, whereas management/professional, sales/office, and service-based occupations associate with higher poverty for female-headed households—pointing toward the “working poor”—comprising largely of the active female labor force in the new economy. Full- and part-time work status alleviates poverty for female-headed households, whereas part-time work is associated with higher poverty for males.