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National Women's Law CenterNWLC Analysis of New Census Data Shows Record Numbers of Women in Poverty, Without Health Insurance
September 13, 2011
(Washington, D.C.) Record numbers of women lived in poverty – and extreme poverty – in 2010, according to an analysis of Census data released today by the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC). The poverty rate among women climbed to 14.5 percent in 2010 from 13.9 percent in 2009, the highest in 17 years. The extreme poverty rate among women climbed to 6.3 percent in 2010 from 5.9 percent in 2009, the highest rate ever recorded. Over 17 million women lived in poverty in 2010, including more than 7.5 million in extreme poverty; extreme poverty means income below half the federal poverty line.
In addition, the percentage of women under 65 without health insurance increased from 19.2 percent in 2009 to 19.7 percent in 2010, the highest rate recorded in more than a decade. Over 19 million women younger than 65 were without health care coverage in 2010.
“Behind today’s grim statistics are real people who are finding it harder than ever to keep a roof over their heads, feed their families, get the health care they need and give their children a chance at a better life,” said Joan Entmacher, NWLC Vice President for Family Economic Security.
“The record numbers of women and families living in extreme poverty and without health insurance should send an urgent wake-up call to Congress to tackle the immediate deficit facing this nation – the lack of jobs – by acting swiftly on President Obama’s job creation proposals and passing a robust package that will put millions of American women and men back to work.”
Read more:
http://www.nwlc.org/press-release/nwlc-analysis-new-census-data-shows-record-numbers-women-poverty-without-health-insura