The Feminization of Poverty: Current Theories and Analytic Potential

Abstract

This article conducts a bibliographic review to then describe some possible lines of questioning of the concept “feminization of poverty” and its use in the field of social policy. It briefly situates the antecedents of the concept of feminization based on its emergence in the U.S. in the late 1970s and its expansion to Latin America in the 1990s. It then describes some definitions that are representative of its current uses and meanings and the relationship with the concept of female headed household. It concludes by describing alternative readings found in the bibliography reviewed, that allow approaching the problem of poverty from a more complete perspective, and which in turn consider gender in a relational manner integrated to broader social processes.