ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the standpoint of Marxist feminist theory, the strengths and shortcomings of current explanations to establish whether recent changes in the size and composition of the poor population, growth in female-headed families, and the increased vulnerability of women to poverty can be adequately understood as the “feminization of poverty.” The “feminization of poverty” is currently a phenomenon of great concern to the government, social scientists, politicians, and feminists of all political persuasions. The definition of a social phenomenon shapes the questions that can be asked about its possible determinants and, of course, the questions in turn shape the answers. Male unemployment, lay-offs, and decline in wages are also crucial correlates of women’s poverty; such factors correlate with marital stress and violence, separation or divorce, and can make family formation impossible. The critique of the “feminization of poverty” interpretation of current trends presented above does indeed identify important issues for further theoretical and empirical investigation.
