By Ann Menasche
This opinion piece is that of the author and does not necessarily represent the opinions of Feminists In Struggle as an organization.
Working as I do representing people who lack regular homes, many of them sheltering in RVs or other vehicles, I have noticed a demographic change in this population. When in the past unhoused people were mostly men, and mostly people with disabilities and retirees on fixed incomes that were not enough to live on, or people whose drug and alcohol addiction precipitated their homelessness, nowadays the population is more and more female, with many holding down jobs, sometimes more than one. They are often single and divorced women, women who more often than not are escaping domestic violence from male partners, some without children, others with young children and still others grandmothers. They are native-born women who have to fear police drowning them in tickets they cannot afford to pay, impounding their vehicles and criminalizing them as they attempt to stay safe and build an independent life away from their abusers; and immigrant women, who are terrified of ICE raids and deportations on top of everything else. The women are even sometimes working professionals. A medical doctor that I know moved into her RV after her divorce but unlike most of my clients, can afford to pay for an RV park in the city. She just can’t afford the $3,000 to $4,000 per month cost of renting an apartment in San Diego. I know women lawyers who came darn close to being on the streets.
Rather than their homelessness being a “choice” or a “lifestyle”, these women are the victims of factors beyond their control – the skyrocketing cost of housing that has left half the population of San Diego struggling to pay the rent – one illness, one layoff, or one rent raise away from homelessness; and abysmally low female wages. Even women in the professions still make less than their male counterparts.
The average women makes 81.5% of what men make when compared to men with similar demographic characteristics, family situations, work hours and experiences. This discrepancy is worse for women of color. Wage inequality begins early and worsens over time. Lower pay means women in their senior years have lower pensions and Social Security payments.
Decades after the passage of the Lily Ledbetter Act, and we are still being denied equal pay for equal work. The recognition of the Equal Rights Amendment as part of the Constitution and stronger equal pay laws are needed, which, given the segregation of the workforce itself, should also include equal pay for work of comparable value. Why should a school teacher or social worker, female dominated professions that require advanced education, get less pay than an engineer?
When we think about the poor this holiday season, let’s keep the female face of poverty uppermost in our minds. And if we want to put a dent on homelessness, paying women fairly would be a start.
Happy holidays, sisters!