AT WHAT COST A ROOM OF HER OWN - FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE FEMINIZATION OF POVERTY AMONG PRIME-AGE WOMEN, 1939-1959

This article investigates the feminization of poverty prior to 1960 by focusing on three factors that contributed to the increase in the pro pensity to form female-headed households and to the poverty rate among such households. Compared with 1939, households headed by prime-age w omen in 1959 included fewer adults, thereby reducing earnings potentia l. The earnings level at which such women formed independent household s was lower relative to the poverty line; and although higher earnings allowed more women to form independent households, the increase was n ot large enough to lift some of these households out of poverty.