st critique, poverty can be effectively addressed only by dealing with the interrelated oppressions that people must cope with. Trying to end poverty without addressing problems of racism and sexism is impossible, in this perspective. They are intertwined issues.
Feminists draw support for their position from reports like those in Science News (1996) which summarized a survey of homeless and low-income mothers in Worcester, Massachusetts. This survey showed that the women (all of whom had average incomes well below the federal poverty level) had low education and job training levels, poor physical health, high rates of major depression and psychological symptoms linked to traumatic experiences, and a high incidence of both physical and sexual assaults.
Survey participants included 220 women from emergency shelters or temporary housing and 216 women receiving welfare who had never been homeless. Of that total, 92 percent of homeless mothers and 81 percent of low-income mothers had experienced a severe physical or sexual assault at l
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