Feminisation of poverty in 12 welfare states: Consolidating cross-regime variations?

Abstract

Kim JW, Choi YJ. Feminisation of poverty in 12 welfare states: consolidating cross-regime variations? According to some theorists, the feminisation of poverty has become a common feature in the majority of advanced welfare states, but there have been very few attempts to provide a detailed picture from a comparative perspective. Considering this background, the aim of present study was to illuminate the feminisation of poverty in 12 welfare states between the 1980s and the 2000s and to analyse whether there has been any convergence or divergence between these welfare states. The scope and depth of the feminisation of poverty and the changing role of welfare states were assessed via an analysis of the antipoverty role of public transfers in each country. Using the Luxembourg Income Study dataset, this article argues that while the feminisation of poverty has been slowed down and even reversed in certain cases, cross-regime differences have become increasingly visible.