September 10, 1999 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Poverty rates higher for working
women
The poverty rate for working
women was 6.7 percent in 1997—close to 2 percentage points higher than the rate for
working men.
[Chart data—TXT]
Of black working women, 14.6 percent lived below the
poverty level in 1997, compared to 7.9 percent of black working men. The difference
between the rates for white women and men was much smaller—5.5 percent of white
working women were among the working poor, compared to 4.5 percent of white working men.
Among Hispanic workers, the poverty rates were nearly the same for women and men. In
1997, 12.6 percent of Hispanic working women and 12.4 percent of Hispanic working men
lived below the poverty level.
Note that poverty status is defined in terms of family unit. The earnings of others in
the family and the presence of dependents are important factors in a person’s poverty
status.
These data on poverty rates are from the Current
Population Survey. The above figures are for individuals who spent at least 27 weeks
in the labor force in 1997. Find out more in "A Profile of the Working Poor,
1997," BLS Report 936.
Of interest
Spotlight on Statistics: National Hispanic Heritage Month
In this Spotlight, we take a look at the Hispanic labor force—including labor force participation, employment and unemployment, educational attainment, geographic location, country of birth, earnings, consumer expenditures, time use, workplace injuries, and employment projections.
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Read more »