This study links to that body of research and expands our understanding of the role of gender to consider how gender and sexual orientation intersect to shape the rates of poverty experienced by same-sex and different-sex couples in the United States. The fact that not all individuals and households are equally likely to be poor has also brought attention to the role of gender-related norms, policies, and economic outcomes that increase the risk of poverty for women and their families, in particular. Understanding poverty and working to end it are at the core of national income support programs as well as international economic development programs, such as the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
The concept of poverty involves identifying the individuals, families, or households whose low incomes make it challenging or impossible to meet their health, nutritional, housing, educational, and other life needs.
For good reason, poverty receives a great deal of attention in social science literature.
