This article presents a historical perspective on the "feminization of
poverty" by examining policies that affected women in the governmental work programs during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Although the programs created problems for capital, they remained
consistent with patriarchy, as well as with divisions based on race and
class. That is, they limited women's participation to one-sixth of the
participants; paid women less than they did men; and permitted
women to do only "women's work. "
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