【作者】 周徐萍；

【导师】 王恩铭；

【作者基本信息】 上海外国语大学 ， 英语语言文学， 2007， 硕士

【摘要】 贫困妇女化是美国新近出现的一个社会问题。20世纪60年代以来,随着家庭结构的巨变,这一问题逐渐呈现出来。女性主导的单亲家庭的剧增使得很大一部分女性独自承担起了家庭的经济重担。虽然60年代中期兴起的美国妇女运动为妇女赢得了政治、经济、文化等方面的许多权益,然而美国社会仍充斥着性别偏见和性别歧视,妇女仍不能完全享有公平的机会和待遇,在经济和社会事务上仍处于劣势地位。目前美国贫困妇女主要集中于三个群体——未婚单身母亲、离异妇女及寡妇、老年(尤其是高龄)女性。黑人妇女由于受到性别和种族的双重歧视,其贫困的几率往往更高。针对这一问题,美国政府一直在尝试着各种各样的福利政策,希望能借此来遏制贫困妇女化问题的蔓延。然而,盛行的个人主义价值观和日趋保守的社会趋势极大地阻挠了健全的福利体系的形成。美国政府对社会福利的投入少之又少,根本无法满足贫困人群的需要,无法有效保护妇女不受贫困的侵扰。妇女贫困化已成为当代美国一个十分棘手的社会问题,且存在继续恶化的危险。要切实缓解或解决此问题,除了妇女自身需不断努力提高完善自我外,政府必须加大干预力度,增加福利与社会保障的投入,出台严厉的法律制度及有效的监控体系遏制社会活动中的性别歧视行为,缓解妇女经济压力,为其创造一个平等发展的空间。更多还原

【Abstract】 Feminization of poverty appears as a relatively new social problem in America. In the past, when the family bond was tight, women seemed no poorer than their male counterparts. However, drastic changes in the family structure since the 1960s have brought about more and more female-headed households, exposing these women to fierce economic competitions all alone by themselves. Major groups of poor women are unmarried mothers, separated, divorced or widowed mothers and aged women. Black women suffer double jeopardy of gender and racial discrimination and are therefore even more likely than their white counterparts to fall into poverty. Although rise in female-headed families comes hand in hand with feminization of poverty, it is not the root of the problem. The genuine cause of women’s susceptibility to poverty is lingering gender prejudice and discrimination which disadvantages women in the labor force and shrinks their earning capacity.The US government has been testing various welfare programs to help relieve the problem of feminization of poverty. However, due to prevailing individualistic spirits of the nation, welfare in the United States has always been means-tested and niggardly; it can in no way keep women from the affliction of poverty. To truly confront the problem, the US government needs to help women until they can help themselves. On the one hand, more rigid laws should be enforced and a more effective monitoring system be put in place to deter and check gender prejudice and discrimination. On the other hand, more generous government assistance should be given to enhance the elevation and empowerment of poor women. Women themselves also need to seize every opportunity to fulfill self-improvement and actively participate in legislative process to exert influence on the society as a whole. Feminization of poverty has presented itself as a tough and thorny issue to the American society and it is still growing. Both women and the US government and other private institutions need to take effective measures to curb this trend before it reaches epidemic proportions.更多还原