Poverty statistics by family composition, age, and sex in 2008

The provided charts illustrate the distribution of women in poverty by household composition and compare poverty rates between men and women across various age brackets in the United States in 2008.

Regarding family composition, the majority of women in poverty are single with no dependent children, accounting for 54% of the total. Single women with dependent children represent the second-largest group at 26%. In contrast, married women, whether with or without dependent children, make up significantly smaller proportions, at 12% and 8% respectively.

Turning to age-related poverty, both sexes show the highest poverty rates in the 'Under 5' category, at approximately 21%. However, a notable disparity emerges in the 18-24 age group, where women’s poverty rate stands at 20.8%, significantly higher than the 15% recorded for men. This trend of women experiencing higher poverty rates persists throughout the remaining age categories. The gap is particularly pronounced in the '75-up' bracket, where women’s poverty rate is 13.1%, more than double the 6.2% observed for men. Conversely, the lowest poverty rates for both genders are generally found in the middle-aged and elderly groups, though women consistently remain more vulnerable than their male counterparts.