Sara Mersha, executive director of Direct Action for Rights and Equality (DARE) in Rhode Island, said the current crisis is similar to Hurricane Katrina not only in scale, but also in terms of who it's hurting most. In Rhode Island, the majority of foreclosures are occurring in poor, Black and Latino neighborhoods--and women are being disproportionately affected.

One of the reasons women are being hit hardest is that they made up a large portion of the people already living in poverty when the crisis hit. Women and children make up 27 million of the 37 million Americans living in poverty in the United States, according to Sara Gould, president and CEO of the Ms. Foundation.

Single mothers and their children are more likely to be poor than any other demographic group. Women also make up two-thirds of the minimum-wage and below-minimum-wage work force. There are also few legal rights for these workers when they lose their jobs, as many have no access to unemployment benefits or severance pay.

"There is no safety net," said Ai-jen Poo, founder of Domestic Workers United in New York City. "We're realizing that 25,000 jobs lost at Lehman Brothers means 25,000 jobs in jeopardy for domestic workers."

An expansion of unemployment benefits, particularly better coverage for part-time and low-wage workers, is key to helping women, according to Nancy Duff Campbell, co-president of the National Women's Law Center in Washington, D.C. She also called for an increase in food-stamp benefits and federal help to states suffering the most.

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