Gender, Socioeconomic Status & Intersectionality
The Intersection of Gender & Socioeconomic Status: Impact on Women's Lives
Gender and socioeconomic status are associated since many issues revolving around gender are related to society's expectations of women. Society expects women to have children and get married and struggles to support those who don't follow traditional norms. When speaking about gender and socioeconomic status, much of the time the relationship that women have with poverty is being spoken about. In the capitalistic world that we live in, most of the time, your socioeconomic status determines your quality of life. This fact is specifically true for women, and as a result, it affects the lives of children and families as well. It has been long documented that the inequalities and inequities in wealth and quality of life for women. There is a negative relationship between socioeconomic status and gender which unfairly disadvantages women because the pay gap contributes to the poverty rate, the decline in marriages has contributed to social stratification, and the feminization of poverty is linked to the number of single moms living within the US.
Unveiling the Gender Pay Gap: A Contributor to the Feminization of Poverty
The gender pay gap refers to the gap in the number of cents working women receive to every dollar working men receive. Generally, women earn 82 cents for every dollar that a man makes (Bleiweis). This number goes down drastically depending on the race of the women with Black women earning 64 cents, and Hispanic women earning 57 cents (Khattar et al.). The pay gap truly does contribute to the feminization of poverty and has a severe impact on families. Around 60% of women would earn more money if they were paid the same amount as men who are the same age with similar education and hours of work.
One of the most disenfranchised groups is single mothers, and by closing the wage gap, around two-thirds of working single moms would receive a pay increase. Working to close the wage gap wouldn't only benefit women, it would also benefit their families, especially their children. Approximately 25.8 million children would benefit from their children receiving equal pay. Achieving equal pay would cut the very high poverty rate for working single mothers by nearly half from 28.9% to 14.5%. Additionally, the number of children with working moms living in poverty would drop from 5.6 million to 3.1 million. Increasing the pay of women would not only help individuals. It would help the United States economy as well. If women received equal pay, the US economy would have produced an additional income of 512.6 billion dollars (Milli et al.). In 2019, 64% of children in single-parent households were Black (COUNT). So much of a person's socioeconomic status is dependent on the intersectionality of their identity and the life that they were born into.
The reason for the wage gap is a highly debated topic. However, it is undeniable that the wage gap is related to the time away from work that women dedicate to their children. This includes both long breaks from work for maternity leave and short breaks that take away from what corporate America deems a good employee. The structural-functional view would conclude that this is simply natural and that this is the way that it is intended. The structural-functional theory sees problems as natural, almost necessary, due to the current structure of society and how fast it changes. This theory would believe that this issue is a result of a functioning society that has "worked" for years without disruption. The social-conflict view would deem the expectations of women oppressive and unfair in comparison to their male counterparts. Society expects women to have children and take time off to take care of them yet punishes them for doing that exact thing.
Marriage Decline and Child Poverty: A Social Conflict Perspective
Sociologists have recently documented a decline in the number of marriages taking place. Since 1990, the number of births outside of marriage in the United States has jumped from 28% to 40% (Wildsmith et al.). Research suggests that the growth of child poverty from the 1970s to the 1990s was driven by the rise of single-parent households during this period. From the 1970s to the 1990s, the number of children living in single-parent households doubled from 12% to 25%. This study also indicated that more than half of the increase in child poverty over this time frame can be connected to the decline of stable marriage in America (Wilcox). In Social Problems, it is stated that 84% of single-parent households, where the parent is a woman, are in poverty (Macionis 394-395). The social conflict theory believes that the current standards for what a family should look like reinforce patriarchal views and economic inequality.
The connection between poverty and marriage is associated with the number of single-parent households. Unmarried moms have higher rates of poverty than married women with children, without children, and unmarried women without children (Bleiweis et al.). In the United States, about a quarter of children live with one parent. This is more than three times the number of children around the world who live with one parent (Kramer). This leads one to believe that this is an issue with the structure of the American government and our society. This gap may be due to traditions or widespread beliefs, but it is important to remember the support that should be available for an exceedingly large group of people like single-parent households. The structural-functional view would suggest that family problems stem from sudden changes in the traditional family structure. Followers of this theory believe that these problems threaten the family's stability and weaken society.
Education, Single Motherhood, and Poverty: An Intersectional Analysis
The relationship between single mothers and poverty is closely linked to education level. In 2016, it was found that women who did not finish high school or obtain a GED were more than six times as likely to give birth out of wedlock. Once again, intersectionality dictates life outcomes because the relationship between education and nonmarital childbearing varies by race and ethnicity (Wildsmith et al.). Just 13% of single moms with a bachelor's degree live in poverty. In comparison, 41% of single moms with a high school diploma live in poverty. By making education more accessible, poverty among all single mothers would decline. In 2016, a study proved that if just one in four single moms with a high school education or some college had earned a college degree, "poverty among all single mothers would have declined by more than three times the rate seen over the last decade (Cruse et al.)."
It is proven that single mothers with college degrees are much less likely to live in poverty. A social conflict view would say that this is unfair due to the increasing cost of higher education. The current education system is inaccessible to many due to its cost which leaves behind many people who desperately need it. On the other hand, the structural-functional view believes that part of the function of the current education system is that it sorts and separates students based on their merit. Followers of the structural-functional theory believe that not everyone can attend college and that only the best of the best can.
Addressing Inequality: Closing the Gender Pay Gap & Enhancing Educational Accessibility
Women are unfairly socioeconomically disadvantaged due to the pay gap contributing to the poverty rate, the decline in marriages, and the increase in unmarried mothers. The connection between socioeconomic status and gender does not stand alone as much of it has to do with intersectionality. When analyzing the connection between gender and socioeconomic status, it is important to remember the role that intersectionality plays. A singular individual's identity can be intersectional and will determine some of the outcomes of their life. For many women, their race, ethnicity, and level of education have a lot of say in terms of their socioeconomic status. The structural-functional view of gender inequality applies expectations to the roles that men and women can perform based on their gender and level of education. The functionalist perspective believes that traditional gender roles contribute to the stability of society. On the other hand, the social conflict theory argues that the only reason gender roles still exist is to allow men, "the dominant group," to maintain their power and status. The conflict perspective advocates for a balance of power between genders. Of the 38.1 million people living in poverty in 2018, 56 percent of those people were women (Bleiweis et al.). It is undeniable that there is an inequality in the poverty rate of women. To help reduce the inequality of the poverty rate, it is important to work towards closing the pay gap and making education more accessible. Both issues help to reduce the female poverty rate, but also should be equitable and help women from all backgrounds with intersecting identities.
