Cultural Humility in Healthcare ________________________________________________________________
Women in Poverty More women than men are living in poverty in the U.S. Men who have migrated for employment or to avoid conscripted military work often have left women behind. Migrating across hundreds of miles and difficult terrain is not feasible for women and children. Basic information about women in poverty includes the following (National Women’s Law Center, 2024): • Nearly one in three (31.6%) families headed by single women with children were poor in 2023. • More than one in 10 women aged 18 and older, over 14 million, lived in poverty in 2023. • The highest rates of poverty are experienced by Native American Indian or Alaska Native (AIAN) women, Black women, and Latinas. About one in four AIAN women live in poverty. This is the highest rate of poverty among women or men of any racial or ethnic group. • Unmarried mothers have higher rates of poverty then married women, with or without children, and unmarried women without children. Nearly 25% of unmarried mothers live below the poverty line. • Poverty rates for women and men are almost even throughout childhood. However, the gap grows significantly for women aged from 18 to 44 (during prime childbearing years) and again for women aged 75 and older. • Women with disabilities are more likely to live in poverty than both men with disabilities and persons without disabilities. Women with disabilities have a poverty rate of 22.9%, compared to 17.9% for men with disabilities and 11.4% for women without disabilities. • LGBTQ women experience higher rates of poverty than cisgender (sense of personal identity and gender correspond with their birth sex), straight women, and men because of the intersections of discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity or expression. Reasons Why Women Live in Poverty. The impact of sexism and racism on society limit the employment opportunities available to women. Some of the causes of poverty in women include the following issues. Wage Gap. Based on 2025 data, women working full-time, year-round earn on average 83 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts. This gap continues throughout the lifespan, leaving women with fewer resources and savings than men (Payscale, 2025).
Research shows that the poverty rate in the U.S. is slightly decreasing, though not enough to be statistically significant as of 2023. Healthcare professionals must be aware of data relating to poverty and work to decrease the growing problem of poverty.
Key points of the 2023 income and poverty in the U.S. include the following (U.S. Census Bureau, 2020c): • Between 2022 and 2023, the poverty rate decreased for non-Hispanic Whites and Hispanics. Among non-Hispanic Whites, 7.7% were in poverty in 2023, while Hispanics had a poverty rate of 16.6%. Among the major racial groups examined in this report, American Indian and Alaska Native alone had the highest poverty rate (21.2%), experiencing a decrease from 2022. The poverty rate for Asians (8.9%) in 2023 was not statistically different from 2022. • Poverty rates for people under the age of 18 increased from 15.0% in 2022 to 15.3% in 2023. Poverty rates decreased for people aged 18 to 64 from 10.6% in 2022 to 10.0% in 2023. The poverty rate for people aged 65 and older was 9.7% in 2023, decreased from 10.2% in 2022. • Between 2022 and 2023, poverty rates decreased for married-couple families and families with a female householder. The poverty rate for married-couple families decreased from 5.0% in 2022 to 4.6% in 2023. For families with a female householder, the poverty rate decreased from 23.0% to 21.8%. The poverty rate for families with a male householder was 11.4% in 2023, not statistically different from 2022. Income data from this report include the following information (U.S. Census Bureau, 2024c). • Median household income was $80,610 in 2023, an increase of 4.0% from the 2022 median of $77,540. • The 2023 real median incomes of family households and non-family households increased by 3.6% and 5.0% from their respective 2022 estimates. • The 2023 real median household incomes of non- Hispanic Whites, Black, and Hispanics increased from their 2022 medians, while Asians decreased by 0.2%. • In 2023, real median household incomes increased by 6.6% in the Midwest, 3.3% in the South, 2.4% in the West, and 3.2% for the Northeast from their 2022 medians.
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