Child Care For Single Mothers

Single Parents Club (SPC) is a non-profit organization aimed at providing child care services for low income single parents. Single Parents Club recognizes that single parents often face multiple barriers while trying to successfully enter the workforce. Often time’s challenges such as a lack of affordable child care make it difficult for individuals to successfully enter into the workplace. The mission of this organization is to provide affordable child care will help ease a single parents burden.

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.

They do not have a significant other 37 percent of single-parents families lack self sufficiency and are officially poor compared with 7 percent of married-couple families (Rector). Welfare can help the underachieving single parents that do not have a stable income. This proves and shows that some individuals can and want to be

Having children, whether planned or not, produces additional expenses for a family that some may not be prepared for. While parents don’t immediately think about long term cost when raising a child, it is shown that raising a child in American from birth to age 17, is over $241,080, and this number is expected to increase every year Covert, 2013). It is estimated that over 15 million children are living in poverty in the United States. These families encounter an imbalance in their education, health care, and socioeconomic resources (Milteer, Ginsburg, & Mulligan, 2012). These low income families must focus on their daily survival and this creates an economic hardship. Milteer et al., (2012) shows that

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.

Access to child-care, financial aid support and a close networks of significant others on low-income single mothers' access

Children born to single or unwed parents causes serious problems and discussions not only within society, but also the welfare system. Becoming a parent seems to be one of the most beautiful things life has to offer to people. The laughter of children warms the heart like nothing else can, and the way their eyes light up when they receive something as small as a piece of candy reminds us all that the little things in life are the most important. However, children require time and money which often gets overlooked by many people. Raising a child with two married parents seems difficult enough, but today many people are having children out-of -wedlock which also seems to create more single parent homes and puts more pressure on that one parent who struggles to support the child. From 1960 to 2000, out-of-wedlock births grew by 600%

In today’s society it is not unusual to have a one-parent family with a young mother in charge. Teen mothers having children has increased so much over the years that it’s now a common occurance. Being a young single mother in today’s society is challenging but with the help of government assistance single mothers are finding their way.

Single mothers are struggling with only one job to make enough for a living for herself and her child. Single mothers are working very hard for very low pay. Mothers that are living paycheck to paycheck and are pushing their budget to the max eventually have to start applying for government assistance (Alexa). “Passing the Raise the Wage Act would especially help women, particularly women of color. Women are the majority (56 percent) of workers who would benefit from increasing the federal minimum wage to $12 by 2020”(Cooper, Gallagher,Vogtman). Single Women have to create strategies to make ends meet on low wages. They have to deal with all sorts of issues. (Chonce)

Poverty remains a topic of discussion of every political debate, and the focus of many politicians and public health activists. Yet, thirty seven million Americans still live below the official poverty level.1 With a focus of work, when exploring the topic of poverty, three types can be identified: the unemployed, the working poor, and those not in the labor market (people with disabilities and retired seniors). In order to cut poverty in half, jobs need to be made available, work must pay, reduction of obstacles to work, and a need to help seniors and adults with disabilities.2 One very large and influential obstacle preventing work, is childcare. By expanding assistance and access to childcare for low-income families, we not only promote

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

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

With the entry of women into the labor force, arrangements for child care have shifted from care in the home to care outside the home. Additionally, no one knows how many American children function as guardians for younger brothers and sisters while their parents are at work, latchkey children are certainly underreported. We must also consider that most children are not being raised in traditional nuclear families. Stepfamilies can be complex, even though they may start idealistically, the members need to deal with conflicting traditions, loyalties, power struggles, since the stepparent role does not approximate that of a biological one. Then we also have single parent families, many of which live below poverty level. Single mothers run up

There are many families that are not receiving any of the help that they are eligible for or enough help to get them by. It is estimated that seven in ten families eligible for child care subsidies based on state standards are not served by Child Care and Development Block Grant. Childcare funding is capped, unlike Medicaid and SNAP in which funding increases depending on the amount of eligible people (Mills, Compton, & Golden, 2011). Also, very few families who are eligible for Medicaid, SNAP, and child care subsidies to not receive all three. In 2001, only 5 percent of low-income working families obtained Medicaid or CHIP, SNAP, and child care subsidy (Mills, Compton, & Golden, 2011). If the economic hardships weren’t so immense, then not receiving these benefits wouldn’t be such a large problem. Childcare alone can cost families thousands of dollars and can take up large amounts of income, leaving little income left for food, rent, and other necessities. According to the White House Office of the Press Secretary, in 2013, the average cost of full-time infant child care is higher than the average cost of in-state tuition at a 4-year public college at $10,000 per year (Office of the Press Secretary 2015). Low-income families aren’t able to afford costs of childcare this high without a decent amount of government

Social welfare problem is an inevitable issue that continues to exist in society and are getting more complex and difficult for people to prosper, accomplish and reach their potential. Poverty in low income working families intrigued my interest. Low income working families in the United States are earning less, below poverty line and are struggling to pay for necessity like food, rent, child care, medical bills and costs of transportation to work. Low wages workers are in jobs that have no security or benefits making it inevitable for them to invest in their children’s education, buying a car or getting a better job. Children are being malnourished because of their parents low income to buy healthy or sufficient food. Based on research, Single parents are mostly affected with lower income conflict vs nuclear family. Child care is demolishing 30% of workers income. Low wages are making workers unhealthy. Reports from J. Paul Leigh, University of California Davis, epidemiologists, “relationship between low wages