Women in the United States are often financially vulnerable after divorce. At risk are material assets, liquid assets and insurance benefits.
The record-breaking number of home foreclosures in recent years has prompted calls to ban subprime mortgage financial instruments. But there are a variety of types of subprime loans, and not all may be associated with higher default rates.
According to a 2011 U.S. Bureau of Statistics study, the proportion of women working outside the home increased more than 20% between 1970 and 2010, rising from 39% to 47% of the population. And more of these women hold better-paying positions than they did two generations ago.
The dramatic variation of health care costs across the United States was one of the important factors behind the U.S. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, passed by the U.S. Congress and signed by President Obama in 2010. Moreover, research programs such as the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care project have documented how higher costs do not necessarily result in better patient outcomes.
