Women and poverty in American writing

There are two books that most American women read, generally early in their lives: Louisa May Alcott's Little Women and Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind.

Alcott opens her book with Meg, the oldest of the sisters, complaining about being poor. Much of the book is about the sisters, their mother and their neighbors confronting poverty with varying degrees of success. And while Scarlet O'Hara's fortunes fluctuate and she ultimately becomes wealthy through marriage, Scarlett suffers from poverty and hunger.

Both of these books center on the Civil War but it is interesting that two of the most popular books by and for women in American letters (albeit neither one is truly literary) deal with women and poverty.

I think about Meg's words all the time but most of all at Christmas. What about these books? How do you feel about women and poverty? What about women today?