The role of government best resembles an iron triangle. Big business supplies Congress that appropriates money for pet projects. Thus, women and children are far less likely to enjoy in the benefits of appropriated money because the system supports itself, not outsiders.
But this is not just an issue of politics. Social stratification in economic terms consists of the upper, middle and lower classes. As conflict theorists (using Marxist theory) demonstrate, moving to another class in a society is difficult. The super wealthy in society make their money off of the labor of others. So a person who works may be improving their own personal wealth, but they are also empowering those on top at a much greater rate. If a person who flips hamburgers at McDonalds earns $8 an hour, they are more likely to need help such as pay day loans. This means that even though the worker has earned something, the gap between rich and poor has widened.
A final reason that women and children are more likely to be poor is the concept of deviance. Many people become products of the system and do not act to violate the culture norms that they are used to. Within communities, if one person was a single mother on welfare, it is likely that the lifestyle will be passed onto children. It is normal to live in poverty for these people. Performing actions such as going to school or refraining from sexual activity as a teenager maybe deemed as unacceptable within these communities.
Normalcy depends entirely on personal experience. If people are exposed to a stable family life, then it stands to reason that they will strive for a similar path. It has become normal for many Americans to dismiss poverty as the result of the individual, but such concepts quickly wilt upon a careful examination.
