Women's Choices and the Risk of Poverty

Book excerpt: Health care policy and proposals for national health care reform have become some of the most contentious political issues of the decade. Garland Publishing announces a new series addressing the most significant issues in the area of health care policy and the business of health care in the United States. books in this multidisciplinary series will include studies of health care practice, the health care business, the implications of multicultural perspectives on health care for public policy, the impact of insurance on health care, and debates over national health care policy, including health care reform. This collection of timely works will offer significant scholarly perspectives on one of the most important issues in public policy.Identifies five kinds of povertyThis study chronicles the lives of 47 Oklahoma women and their experiences with poverty. Using qualitative and quantitative methods, the author examines the relationship between the age at which a woman first gives birth, her marital status then and later in life, and her corresponding risk for entering and exiting poverty. Five categories of women in poverty are identified in the research: Welfare Dependent, Cyclers, Combiners, Temporary Poverty, and Self Sufficient. The author illustrates each type of poverty through insightful case studies which include quotes from the ethnographic interviews and quantitative analysis. The book addresses a variety of the women's experiences, ranging from sexual activity, contraceptive practices, and intimate relationships to their straggles as primary caretakers dealing with education, employment, and government assistance.Discusses feminization of povertyThe study finds thatmany women shift between welfare dependency and husband dependency because of occupational segregation, primary child-rearing responsibilities, and other cultural factors. The research describes the relationships between low wages for women, their marriage and education