Did You Know?
Key findings from the 2004 Women's Foundation study, Improving Economic
Self-Sufficiency:
- Half of all households headed by women have incomes too small for
basic needs.
- Poverty is found in both rural and urban areas in Genesee,
Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, Wayne, and Yates counties.
- The
burden of poverty falls disproportionately on women – especially
African-American, Hispanic, and American Indian women.
- The minimum
income a family needs for ordinary living costs (food, housing,
transportation, health care, child care) varies by county,
but in all cases is far higher than the federal poverty threshold, and
also significantly higher than someone working full-time at the minimum
wage can earn.
- For example, a single-parent family with one school-age child
and one preschooler living in Monroe County needs an income
of $36,936 to pay for the basics: housing, food, transportation, taxes,
telephone, and ordinary household items such as soap, shampoo, and toilet
tissue.
- The highest
individual poverty rate (13.1%) is found in Yates, a rural
county in the Finger Lakes region.
- In Yates County, 79.5% of households
headed by a woman have incomes insufficient to pay for basic
living costs.
Five major poverty traps:
- Too few jobs that pay a living wage
- Lack of education or training for
higher-wage jobs
- Not enough affordable
housing
- Little coordination among service providers
- Lack of affordable, reliable,
and convenient transportation
Where communities should focus efforts toward change:
- More access to training
for jobs that pay a living wage
- Better transportation
solutions
- More access to literacy and English
competency programs
- Better referral
networks among service providers
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More research highlights
Download the complete study
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