From a perspective of needs, risks and tasks of women throughout the life and family cycle the paper examines relationships between mental health and poverty by reviewing observed determinants and concomitants of poverty as well as stressors and risks associate with women's socioeconomic position, environmental conditions, and social roles. As a tool for policy development, a three-anchor needs proposition and a coping schema and formula were proposed as a few conceptual framework for apprising women's hazards and strengths. The poverty status of women in Canada is also reviewed.