They are less likely to see a physician: One in five low-income women (20 percent) reported no physician visit in the past year, compared with 8 percent of higher-income women. They get less preventive screening: Low-income women are the least likely to be screened for cervical and breast cancer, while screening rates increase among higher-income women. One-fifth of low-income women had not received a Pap test in the past three years. Among low-income women between the ages of 40 and 64, one-third had not received a mammogram in the past two years.

Latina and Native American women are the most likely to have limited family incomes. Nearly six in 10 Latinas (58 percent), 47 percent of American Indian/Alaska Native women, 41 percent of African American women, 28 percent of Asian/Pacific Islander women and 29 percent of multiple-race women have low incomes. In comparison, 16 percent of white women are in low-income families.

The policy brief defines low-income women as those whose family incomes range from 0 to 199 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL), a national measure of poverty that varies by family income and family size. Higher-income women are defined as women whose family income is 400 percent of the FPL or greater.

Source: University of California - Los Angeles