Poverty and women in the U.S.A

A RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED TO THE F ACUL TY OF NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF

BACHELOR OF ARTS WTH A MAJOR IN SOCIOLOGY

JANUARY 20XX

By

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

My thanks go out to all who have helped me complete this study and with whom this project may have not been possible. In particular, my gratitude goes out to friends, facilitator and family for extensive and helpful comments on early drafts. I am also deeply indebted to the authors who have shared my interest and preceded me. Their works provided me with a host of information to learn from and build upon, also served as examples to emulate.

DECLARATION

I, (Your name), would like to declare that all contents included in this thesis/dissertation stand for my individual work without any aid, & this thesis/dissertation has not been submitted for any examination at academic as well as professional level previously. It is also representing my very own views & not essentially which are associated with university.

Signature: _______________________________

Date: __________________________

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTII

DECLARATIONIII

TABLE OF CONTENTSIV

LIST OF TABLESVI

LIST OF CHARTSVII

ABSTRACTVIII

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

1.1 Introduction1

1.2 Problem statement1

1.3 Aims of the dissertation1

1.4 Research questions2

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW3

2.1 Occupational Segregation and Poverty3

2.2 Race and Poverty6

2.3 Educational Attainment and Poverty8

2.4 Age and Poverty10

2.5 Household Type and Poverty11

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY13

3.1 Research tool utilized13

3.1.1 Questionnaires13

3.1.2 Secondary data collection14

3.1.3 Variables14

3.2 Participants of the research14

3.3 Informed Consent15

3.4 Confidentiality15

CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND FINDINGS16

4.1 Hypothesis result 116

4.2 Hypothesis result 217

4.3 Hypothesis result 318

4.4 Hypothesis result 419

CHAPTER 5 DISCUSSION, ANALYSIS, AND CONCLUSIONS20

5.1 Defining Poverty20

5.2 Questionnaire analysis23

5.2.1 Question 1: Respondent demographics23

5.2.2Question 2: Children per respondent24

5.2.3 Question 3: Race25

5.2.4 Question 4: Education level26

5.2.5 Question 5: Marital status27

5.2.6 Question 6: Household28

5.4 Summary28

5.5 Conclusion29

APPENDIX31

Appendix A31

REFERENCES32

LIST OF TABLES

TABLE 1: TESTING OF FIRST HYPOTHESIS16

TABLE 2: TESTING OF SECOND HYPOTHESIS17

TABLE 3: TESTING OF THIRD HYPOTHESIS18

TABLE 4: TESTING OF FOURTH HYPOTHESIS19

LIST OF CHARTS

CHART 1: RESPONDENT DEMOGRAPHICS23

CHART 2: CHILDREN PER RESPONDENT24

CHART 3: RACE25

CHART 4: EDUCATION LEVEL26

CHART 5: MARITAL STATUS27

CHART 6: HOUSEHOLD28

ABSTRACT

In 2006, the rate of American females who lived below the poverty rate was 13.6 and the rate has not changed significantly in the past 40 years. The poverty rate was more than twice as high for all female-headed households (28.3%) compared to all male-headed households (13.2%) and the percentage increases to 36.5 for all female-headed households with children under 18 years of age. Also, race is a contributing factor in female-headed households. In 2006, the poverty rate was 43.3% for Black women with children under the age of 18 and no husband present. Poverty is a global problem and is a major hurdle in bringing prosperity at the global level. Women all over the world, including developed countries like USA, have been the most affected by the increase in poverty. Numerous factors have found to make an impact on the poverty of these women. The researcher had applied the secondary and questionnaire analysis to answer the research questions and meet the research objectives. From the results, this dissertation has showed that the independent variables, i.e. education, race, household and marital status ...