Women and poverty Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Women and poverty - Research Paper Example The United Nations in its recent measurement of poverty levels in societies has defined poverty as a condition in which people live in less than one dollar in a day. Coulter (24) defined poverty as the nature in which certain individuals or groups of people in the society are deprived of resources and are denied opportunities to improve their lives. Poverty is the lack of basic needs by people such as food, clothing, and shelter. Poverty in women therefore, is the lack of the basic needs by women that are essential for them to live good lives. The lack of opportunities as well as women’s inability to live long, healthy and creative lives indicates that they face a poverty problem. They do not have the choice to live according to their own wish and standards since they cannot afford the necessities. Additionally, the lack of freedom and failure to live according to their desires takes away their dignity, making the society down look upon them. The biological and sociological pr ocesses that affect both men and women have varying effects on the two genders, affecting each one of them in their own unique way. While these differences positively affect men, women on the other hand are negatively affected. The gap even becomes bigger in areas with minimal legislations that focus on women development. Social structures and roles assigned to women and men by the society too affect their poverty levels. The cultural expectation of men to be the providers of their families makes the society give them more opportunities. Paper Outline 1. Feminization of poverty 2. Nature and extent of poverty in women 3. Causes of poverty among women (a) Wage gap between men and women (b) Low salaries among women (c) Lack of job opportunities for women (d) Inequality in distribution of resources (e) Social exclusion of women by the society (f) Lack of credit and loan facilities for women (g) Negative effects of credit (h) Traditional beliefs and practices (i) Poor farming methods (j ) Poor legislations 4. Conclusion and Recommendations In conclusion, poverty in women is real and women are suffering from lack of opportunities and enough income to sustain decent lifestyles. This has resulted to feminization of poverty, which is an association of women with poverty. The factors that contribute to the high poverty levels among women are both social and legislative related. High wage gaps between men and women, low salaries, lack of job opportunities, inequality in distribution of resources, social exclusion of women by the society, lack of credit and loan facilities for women, negative effects of credit, traditional beliefs and practices, poor farming methods for women, working in agriculture and poor legislations all contribute to the women’s poverty levels. Annotated bibliography Townson, Monica. A Report Card on Women and Poverty, The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, 2000. Web. 29 May 2013 In the paper, â€Å"A Report Card on Women and Povertyâ⠂¬ , Townson gives a clear analysis of the different causal factors of escalated levels of poverty among Canadian women. Feminization of poverty as she points out is by its construction a societal and legislative concern. From her study, she explores the various contributing factors to the high poverty levels among women in the Canadian society. Townson believes that women have unjustly been associated with poverty, tracing the issue of women poverty to a historical point of view. This problem as she observes has been around the society for a long time. According to her, the biggest contributing factor to escalating poverty levels among women in Canada is the huge wage gap between me