According to analysis by the National Women’s Law Center of the 2010 Census information, “record numbers of women were living in poverty — and extreme poverty” in 2010.
According to the analysis:
The poverty rate among women climbed to 14.5 percent in 2010 from 13.9 percent in 2009, the highest in 17 years. The extreme poverty rate among women climbed to 6.3 percent in 2010 from 5.9 percent in 2009, the highest rate ever recorded. Over 17 million women lived in poverty in 2010, including more than 7.5 million in extreme poverty, with an income below half of the federal poverty line.
In addition, the percentage of women under 65 without health insurance increased from 19.2 percent in 2009 to 19.7 percent in 2010, the highest rate recorded in more than a decade. The number of women younger than 65 without health care coverage increased to 19 million.
The Guttmacher Institute reported that poverty has the most significant effect on abortion rates. In the past decade, abortion rates in the U.S. have dropped among almost every subgroup of women, except for impoverished women.
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