ABSTRACT
Historically, blacks and Hispanics have experienced substantially higher rates of poverty than whites. In 2002, 24.1 percent of the black and 21.8 percent of the Hispanic population were in poverty, compared to eight percent of the white population (US Bureau of the Census, 2005). Blacks and Hispanics are roughly three times more likely to be in poverty than whites, and these ratios have persisted for the past 45 years in which the US government has collected data on poverty.2 A disproportionate number of those in poverty are women, with black and Hispanic women especially likely to be poor. In 2002, 25.9 percent of black women and 24.4 percent of Hispanic women were poor. In comparison, 13.5 percent of all women and 9.1 percent of white women were poor.3
