At all ages and among both races, a larger share of females than males is poor. This is true even for very small children. The gap is widest among young adults.

Source: American Community Survey

It is not hard to explain why adult women are poorer than adult males. Women are more often a single parent than men, and the responsibilities of single parenthood often lead to loss of employment and a lapse into poverty. Women also earn lower salaries overall than men, and are more apt to quit work during family emergencies or for medical reasons.

More puzzling is the poverty gap between boys and girls. Children in their early years have little effect on their household incomes, so it would seem poverty would occur to boys and girls at comparable rates. But census data show that this is not the case. Poverty for girls is higher than for boys. Further analysis shows the pattern holds for both white and black children, but is reversed among Hispanics.