Attract Single Mothers

The effects of the 1996 welfare reform bill helped declined caseloads on the social and economic well-being of fragile families, single mothers, and children. Although, the welfare reform was documented for making several positive changes such as reducing poverty rates, lowering the out of-wedlock childbearing, and formulated a better family structure, it is undeniable that poverty remained high among single mothers and their children. The reality of the matter was that most welfare recipients experienced serious barriers to maintain a stable employment due to their lack of skills, not having anyone available to take care of their young children when they leave for work as well as not gaining long-time employment with decent pay to help foster the family. As a result, most poor women and children were faced with the instability of economic and social future as welfare eligibility exhausted their efforts of supporting their families.

most single mothers in the United States living paycheck to paycheck. Living paycheck to paycheck means

Many researchers have been studying welfare to work, but not until recently has the focus resurfaced on the increase number of single mothers who left welfare for work and went back to the welfare system. According to the 2012 U.S. National Census Bureau,” Single mothers are heading more family households and living in poverty. Almost 31% of households headed by a single woman were living below the poverty line—nearly five times the 6.3% poverty rate for families headed by a married couple” ( U.S. Census Bureau, 2012). Without the necessary income, perceived support, childcare resource and training, the move is a downward mobility from welfare independence back into the welfare system.

According to statistics, employment in never married mothers increased nearly 50%, single mothers who HS dropouts increased by 2/3, young single mothers nearly doubled (Karger et al., 2007). But the problem is, are these jobs sufficient enough to get these people out of poverty? There are issues with employment of individuals. These issues include a lack of work experience and education as well as poor health (Urban Institute, 2014). Needing to work also impacts parent(s) and their duties for their children because of long hours, stressful commutes, ad stressful working conditions. These types of stress lead kids to take on the responsibilities of their parents to take care of their younger siblings (Boscia, 2010).

Family structure is a critical factor for a progressive society. If gender gap must be reduced significantly in New Mexico, the size of single mother families must be reduced. This has the added advantage of reducing poverty and allowing more women to participate effectively in the labor force. Outreach programs should be broadened to identify young single mothers at the grassroots level and not to single them out for social stigmatization but to support them develop skills that will empower them. In addition, girls should be engaged through various programs to catch them young. These approaches will help to define the problem of single mothers as economic rather than a moral one. Thus, it becomes easier to leverage public support by the stakeholders

Also, public opinion is that single mothers have a better situation than other women in Canada because of supports from social assistance and the government. For example, YWCA (2009) states that YWCA supports single mothers and tries to connect them with parenting resources, financial supports, affordable housing opportunities, and employment programs (P.5). These support systems are a good start to empower many single mothers to plan prosperous paths to personal and financial independence, but those support systems are not enough. Andre Carrel (2013) states that in Canada there is a law that makes fathers to pay for part of their children’s expenses based on father’s income. But still there are some deadbeat dads that do not pay anything. Also, Canada’s lack of workplace flexibility and lack of reasonable childcare force single mothers into jobs that seriously limit single mothers’ earning power. According to Sarah McGinnis (2004), in 2001, the average number of single mothers needed an excess of $4100 to reach the poverty line. This data shows that the financial support from the government and social assistance is low and the average numbers of single mother families live under the poverty line. McGinnis also states that 50% of the kids in single-parent families are living in poverty, compared with 4% of children in two parent families. These evidences show that government must focus on single mothers and income because mother’s poverty directly affects children. To sum up, reducing gender wage gap and helping single mothers for more paid work can help them and their children to get out of

However, these gains were offset by reduce income from means-tested programs and increase in childcare costs. These findings shows that many single mothers moved from welfare poor to working poor (therefore they had difficulties solidifying their economic well- being) consequently (Ann, 2014; Hennessy, 2005; Kim & Joo, 2009). Many single mothers who left welfare experienced difficulties in solidifying their economic well-being. A study was done by Cancian, Meyer & Wu (2008) with a sample of 14, 150 women from Wisconsin who was recipients of TANF benefits, in its first year. The study documented long-term (six-year) employment and earnings patterns of Welfare recipients. Some women had a positive outcome but this was not the majority. 46% identified as being an employment success and 22% as an earning success. 12% were continuously unemployed and 29% never had more than $5,000 in earnings in any

As a single mother working in the conditions outlined by the author, I would propose changing the current structure of the labor work force in terms of creating a basic framework to uplifting a person’s economic status with the tools of the government, local communities, etc. While perhaps raising the minimum wage may increase an individual’s economic situation, it wouldn’t necessary solve the problem. In order to address this wage inequality issue, we must first understand why it’s very difficult for single mothers to uplift her family to a better economic situation. Lack of higher education is a growing problem in the United States, especially for those who are in the low socioeconomic class. Investing in education is a key initiative that

The Reforms of public benefits for needy families in the U.S. and specifically single mothers, which took place in August of 1996, was an important step since its inception with FDR in 1935. Many requirements were imposed onto public benefits eligibility, such as work and income requirement and establishing a time limit for public aid. Effects of the reform were hard to ignore as it resulted in decreasing governmental expenditure and heavy program caseloads. However, the big debate about public benefits is of which welfare discourages work and it provided a golden plate those who built comfort in it. Although many researches show the reform has a positive effect on employment, earnings, and income of single mothers, but generally negative

Edin and Lein wanted to discover the surviving strategies of single mothers who are on welfare or work on a low-waged job. They argue “neither welfare nor low wage work gives single mothers enough income to meet their families’ expenses” (253). To find out the set of survival strategies of single mothers to make ends meet Edin and Lein interviewed 379 low income single mothers. They chose their interviewees from different cities, different aged group, and different ethnic background. Most mothers who are on welfare wanted to find a job and be out of the welfare but the primary problem that single mothers face was that “family economics”. With the minimum wage income it was impossible for the single mothers to bring the ends meet. Neither working nor being on welfare was enough to survive therefore mothers who are on welfare supported their budget by generating substantial supplementary income. Edin and Lein states that “welfare recipients generated extra income by working at side jobs, obtaining cash from network members, community groups and local charities”. They also get cash help from the family members, child’s fathers, and from a boyfriend. Because they were afraid to lose welfare benefits they did not tell anyone about the extra income they have. To survive they needed both the welfare benefits and the extra income. It was very difficult to establish a trust with the interviewees in the beginning because they were afraid if they talk about it they might lose the

Some parents refuse to take care of their child regardless of having or not having a job. One of the major expenses a single parent may face is child care. “On average, a poor mother spends 32 percent of her total weekly income on child care. This percentage nearly doubles when more than one child needs care” (Kirby, n.d., Child Care Cost section, para.1). Child support intentions are to provide “basic necessities, uninsured medical expenses, childcare, and educational expenses” (What does child support cover, 2015, Basic Necessities section, para. 1-5) “For this reason, 65 percent of single parents are turning to informal, unpaid arrangements--such as extended family or neighbors--as alternatives to formal day care” (Schmottroth, 1994,). When one parent is left with the burden of trying to accommodate all of these needs, something is bound to be left

Adair continuously makes the point that the “work first” policy has rather hurt than helped single mothers leave the cycle of poverty. Consequently, this issue has caused families to remain in poverty and struggle even more than they originally have. One single mother shares her story of her constant struggle of raising a family: “I still need help from the state with childcare and food stamps and life is so much harder for us now than it was before… I do not have the money I need to pay my rent and bills, my twins are in an awful daycare about ten hours a day while I work in a job I hate… If we survive it will be despite the welfare reform” (31). This story shows that there are many families whose quality of life has significantly decreased

There are evidently various perspectives pertaining to single mothers and low-income households that shape the mentality and perception of society as a whole, for instance, the government, media, advocacy groups, etc. The government possesses a very neoliberal view regarding this subject because of the current capitalist economic system that emphasizes the ideology of the individual and their personal responsibility and freedom. This is what constitutes the idea that welfare and all types of social assistance is bad, as it creates lazy people that are stripped of their personal freedom to participate in the workforce. Power proposes in his article,

The benefits of the Earned Income Tax Credit for single-mothers have been outlined by numerous studies written by renowned Economists, such as Bruce D. Meyer and Dan T. Rosenbaum of the University of Chicago and the University of North Carolina at Greensburg respectively. The article by Meyer and Rosenbaum, Welfare, The Earned Income Tax Credit, and The Labor Supply of Single Mothers, contains the data and statistics that I will use as the basis of my analysis and where I will draw the bulk of my conclusions on the benefits and drawbacks of the Earned Income Tax Credit on the labor supply of single-mothers. Meyer’s and Rosenbaum’s research is extremely significant to the particular topic that I am outlining as it uses data collected from a well-known survey and furthermore, looks specifically at the groups that are of particular interest of my research.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the working poor rate of families maintained by women was 28.6% in contrast to the 17.2% rate in families maintained by men. This sad statistic could be partially be explained by a ( WHO? write it out)BLS report that revealed that ” In 2013, about 5 percent of women who were paid hourly rates had wages at or below the federal minimum, compared with about 3 percent of men.”.