The Racialized Feminization of Poverty: The Economic Burden of Being a Black Woman
In the discussion of wealth gaps and income inequities, it is no secret that many of these economic disparities are driven by social marginalization. The role of discrimination in America’s income gaps is so pervasive that there are terms used to refer to it, such as the “feminization of poverty.” The idea of the feminization of poverty refers to the disproportionate financial plight of women due to the income gap between men and women. While this is a valid observation about the current socioeconomic inequities, there is an extra dimension to this idea that deserves greater investigation: the racialized feminization of poverty. That is, the disproportionate financial plight faced by Black women compared to that of women of other racial categorizations.
What are the sociological origins of this economic phenomenon?
Understanding the idea of the racialized feminization of poverty comes with understanding the sociological structures that allow for this type of economic stratification to take place; social placements are inextricably tied to economic placements. The basis of this sociological analysis rests within a single, but very important, concept: intersectionality.
Intersectionality is a term coined by critical race scholar Kimberly Crenshaw, and it refers to how the various identities of a single person interact to create unique and overlapping experiences of oppression. For Black women, intersectionality refers to how race and gender work together to fuel their dual oppression in both social groups. Ultimately, this term is used to explain how Black women in particular are oppressed by racial stratification and patriarchy; these women experience oppression in both aspects of their dual identity. Race and gender both work to offer a distinctive level of oppression to Black women, forcing them to be bound by both entities. In the Black community, patriarchy is the primary oppressive force. In the feminist/women community, the race of Black women is the primary oppressive force. Being subjugated in both their gender and race is conveyed through the concept of being doubly bound. This term is important because it allows us to see how Black women face multiple sources of oppression and how the future advancement of Black women is tied to curing the disease of discrimination in both aspects of their dual identity.
Ultimately, Black women are situated within a unique place in society that subjects them to a racialized wealth gap and a gendered one. Enduring both types of economic burdens not only makes it difficult for Black women to maintain a certain level of financial viability but also decreases their likelihood of sustaining enough prosperity for intergenerational wealth.
This reveals a disheartening truth: Black women can work harder than anyone else and still occupy some of the lowest socioeconomic positions. The idea of free socioeconomic mobility as a result of hard work is not as applicable to this population of women.
Do we have proof?
This argument rests on the idea that the feminization of poverty is indeed racialized. Is there a racial dimension that creates differences in the financial struggle between women of different races? Yes, there certainly is. The data below helps to forward this idea:
In 2016, the Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that 47 percent of state prisoners and 58 percent of federal prisoners have at least one minor child (Bureau of Justice 2016). Considering that it is widely understood that Black men occupy 45-50 percent of prison populations at any given time, many of these individuals in the 2016 statistic are Black fathers. Additionally, 1 in 9 Black children have a parent in prison (Chang 2014), which tends to be their fathers. This is particularly glaring since Black men only represent around 6 percent of the U.S population. As a result, fatherly absence that continues to plight Black families is derived from their disproportionate incarceration. This creates a racialized feminization of poverty as Black women must become the sole breadwinners of their families.
1 in 5 renters on the verge of eviction are Black women despite Black women only occupying less than 10 percent of the renter population in the U.S (U.S Census, 2021).
According to the Pew Research Center’s 2014 research on the demographic makeup of stay-at-home mothers, they found that “about seven-in-ten (69%) are white, and only 19% are Asian. Only 7% are Hispanic, and 3% are black” (Cohn, Livingston, and Wang). This shows the growing inability of Black women to be stay-at-home mothers because of the social flaws that push them into total financial responsibility.
According to research from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, Black women earn 21% less than White women (2021). Keeping gender fixed and showing intra-gender wage differences between women of different races demonstrates how the feminized wage gap is also racialized.
Even when we control for educational differences, Black women are still earning less. Based on the data from the U.S Department of Labor, Black women who have an undergraduate degree still earn 65.4 cents for every dollar that is paid to non-Hispanic, White men with the same education level (2021). Controlling for differences in education shows that lurking variables such as education are not what is truly driving these gendered and racialized wage differences.
Broader implications: What is the solution?
Race does indeed offer an important dimension to the feminized wage gap. Black women’s intersectional identity often presents added social neglect and invisibility. Because of this, analyzing socioeconomic issues exclusive to Black women gets lost in the discourse. This argument presents great social significance as it is inherent to solving larger social issues. We cannot begin to close the gender-based income disparities without first addressing the racialized aspect of them. We then cannot begin to address racialized disparities without addressing the underlying systemic and institutionalized racism that drives them. Ultimately, contemporary economic inequities are the consequence of seemingly unrelated social issues, which prove to be disproportionately racial issues. Until we can uplift Black Americans, socioeconomic disparities that ravish our populations can and will persist.
Edited by Lola Cleaveland
Works Cited
5 facts about Black women in the labor force. 5 Facts About Black Women in the Labor Force. (2021, August 3). Retrieved April 8, 2022, from https://blog.dol.gov/2021/08/03/5-facts-about-black-women-in-the-labor-force
Chang, C. (2016, March 8). Incarcerated fathers and the children left behind. The Century Foundation. Retrieved November 28, 2021, from https://tcf.org/content/commentary/incarcerated-fathers-and-the-children-left-behind/?agreed=1.
Cohn, D. V., Livingston, G., & Wang, W. (2020, May 30). Stay-at-home mothers on the rise. Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends Project. Retrieved November 28, 2021, from https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2014/04/08/after-decades-of-decline-a-rise-in-stay-at-home-mothers/.
Lost jobs, stalled progress: The impact of the “she-cession” on Equal pay. Institute for Women's Public Policy Research. (2021, September). Retrieved April 8, 2022, from https://iwpr.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Gender-Wage-Gap-in-2020-Fact-Sheet_FINAL.pdf
Maruschak, L. M., Bronson, J., & Alpher, M. (n.d.). Parents in prison and their minor children: Survey of prison inmates, 2016. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Retrieved November 28, 2021, from https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/parents-prison-and-their-minor-children-survey-prison-inmates-2016.
U.S. Census Bureau (2021, July) Week 33 Household Pulse Survey June 23 – July 5 Public Use File. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/household-pulse-survey/datasets.html
