The pie chart gives statistics for the status of women in poverty and the bar chart breaks down poverty by gender and age demographics in 2008. Looking from an overall perspective, it is readily apparent that the majority of women in poverty are single without children, followed by single with children, and much more distantly by married women with or without offspring. In terms of gender and age, younger people and women were more likely to be in poverty, particularly female young adults and the elderly.
Looking first of all at the pie chart, an overwhelming 54% of women in poverty were unmarried without children. This figure was more than double that of single females with children (26%) and considerably above married women with dependents (12%) and married women lacking any children (8%).
In terms of the rate of poverty relating to gender and age, more than 20% of those under the age of 5 were in poverty for both sexes. Poverty rates then generally declined for men and women until the age of 45 – 54 to relative lows of 7% and 6%, respectively. The exception was that over 20% of women aged 18 – 24 are in poverty, equal to the peak of the youngest demographic. After the age of 54, poverty likelihood for men rose to 9% for those aged 60-64 and then dropped to 5% for those over 75. For women, poverty levels rose more steadily to reach 12% for the oldest age group.