Single Motherhood : Against The Odds

The level of pay and the general material prosperity of American families has been an issue of developing concern in national discussions. Specifically, the progressing welfare open deliberation has centered consideration on the living states of poor families, both in an outright sense and with respect to those of different families. Primarily, government and culture must clearly communicate the serious importance of marriage to decreasing future poverty and other social troubles. Youth at risk of becoming unwed parents deserve information and assistance to prepare them for the task of bearing and nurturing children. Welfare should be changed to inspire rather than punish marriage, as the current system does. Also, by differentiating out results for people in both poor, single-folks families and families accepting welfare, America has the capacity to better concentrate on those people well on the way to be influenced by welfare change. Along the majority of the measurements citizens talk about, poor people, particularly those in single-guardian families, are fundamentally more regrettable off than the non-poor (Manning).

Can a single mother of three working full time for minimum wage afford to pay ' by herself ' for food, clothing, transportation, childcare, occupational training and medical care? Without government aid, the obvious answer is no. Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF), as described by Robert Kuttner, is a government aid program designed 'to help all of the working poor rise out of poverty.' It includes tuition reimbursements, wage supplements, and above all, childcare? (Kuttner). It creates a more equal opportunity for those at a disadvantage to improve themselves and their situation. TANF, 'which limits the time families can remain on welfare, appears to be a smashing success' (Cohn). First, if eligibility were to become stricter, seeking

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.

Welfare reform is viewed by many as an attack on poor, single mothers. According to Rebecca Blank, “single-mother families are the largest (and fastest-growing) family type.” They also make up nearly all of the families who receive welfare (only 7% of welfare recipients live in two-parent households and even fewer welfare households are headed by men, according to Hays.) Hays also notes in the book that these single mothers are frequently derided as lazy, promiscuous, and are accused of abusing the welfare system for their ill-gotten gains (which in most cases total the princely sum of less than $500 per month.)

North Carolina’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program is one of the primary forms of Medicaid. TANF is also called Work First, which is based on the premise that parents have a responsibility to support themselves and their children. Through Work First, parents can get short-term training and other services to help them become employed and self-sufficient later on, but the responsibility is theirs to find the actual job. Most families have two years or less to move off Work First Family Assistance and after that they are completely on their own. According to a document found on Civic Report, the sixty percent of the rise employment among single mothers is due to the fact the

As societies evolve, so do the problems they face. As America entered the 1990’s, more single women than ever were struggling to support their children. From 1970 to 1993, the number of recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children increased 91 percent (Hombs 52). Single mothers that had children as a result of a rape or wedlock could not partake welfare programs that demanded job participation because for fearing of leaving their children unattended. The Presidential Election in 1996 was largely influenced by each candidate’s plan to provide single mothers with proper benefits. Upon election, President Bill Clinton radically changed welfare by lowering the requirements for eligibility for programs such as AFDC, increasing the amount of aid a recipient could get, and allowing the recipients to keep more of the wages they had earned (Hombs 7). Unfortunately, these alterations made it easy for recipients to abuse the system by encouraging many to simply rely on welfare checks to sustain them financially. Looking back on Robert Rector’s disturbing study that one third of welfare recipients are taking illegal drugs, something must be done to hold those receiving aid accountable.

“With what price we pay for the glory of motherhood” (Isadora Duncan). In Defense of Single Motherhood, by Katie Roiphe, is an essay arguing why being a single mother is better than the traditional two parent method. Although Rophie has a moderate expression of ethos, her poor use of logos, and her struggle with pathos concludes this is a weak argument.

Welfare should not be reformed because it helps single parents. 40 percent of single mothers are poor, 12 million single parents-mother-headed families are poor (Freeman). Welfare can help keep these single parent families stay stable to be an effective families. 12 million single parents mothers headed families can be reduced to less underachieving families with the assistants of welfare. Also with single parents they never had an significant other.

The time limit on welfare would not affect the already employed single mothers as much as it would the unemployed mothers. It was found that in certain cases single mothers who were unemployed were without a job not out of personal desire to continue on governmental assistance, they just could not find a reliable job that provided them with their necessary needs in relation to the responsibilities they had with their children. A solution to the single mothers on welfare factor would be that certain applicants under critical circumstances can file for an extension in welfare, if they meet set requirements.

It is surprising that 42 million women and 28 million children who accompany these mothers in the United States face the financial hardhips that Gilbert faces. Gilbert’s hardships in every sector of her life portray how single- mothers lack adequate support. Good and affordable childcare is hard to find. Obtaining government assistance for education, health insurance, and subsistence programs are also hard to find. I believe that the government or legislators should take into account the hardships that low-income and/or single- parent households face and provide better assistance and resources.

In examining TANF (Transitional Assistance to Needy Families), it is important to look into the past to understand how the program has evolved into its current state. The first inception of the program in its infancy, had one sole purpose, “to provide financial assistance to needy children”, therefore providing government funds to the dependents, and not parents. The 1950’s brought an expansion of the program including providing financial assistance to the mother of the child, however excluded both married couples and those children born out of wedlock. These unintended consequences contributed to the changes that occurred in 1961, which included providing assistance to two-parent families. Additionally, it was at this time that the

Clines). In reality, however, welfare not only helps poor single mothers, but has reduced poverty, and lowered unwed parenting rates. As reported by Scott Winship and Christopher Jencks, “Welfare reform worked, don’t fix it. It has brought single mothers into workforce and has increased their incomes” (Winship and Jencks). Also, Jeff Jacoby, Journalist and Recipient of Breindel Prize, states individuals and or families on Welfare plummeted by 6 percent, falling form 5 million families to fewer than 2 million. Employment rate for those who were likely to slip into long term dependence soared by nearly 100 percent, lifting more and more children out of poverty (Jeff Jacoby). Aside from that, welfare reform has relieved many people out of poverty. Senator Daniel Patrick Moyihan, warned that if we negated welfare we would “Push 1.1 million children into poverty” and that we would “have children sleeping on grates” (Daniel Patrick Moyihan). According to Steven Malanga, senior editor of City Journal, welfare reform motivates and prepares the unemployed to return to the work force, thereby reducing joblessness and poverty (Steven Malanga). It makes more sense to want to see citizens of our country becoming independent, or benefiting with the help of our

Majority of single parents on welfare and those who recently left welfare mostly use day care centers or relatives and babysitters. This is different from low-income parents who have never been welfare according to a research by Lohman and co. This are mostly two parent households and their children are cared for by the other parent who is not working ((Lohman, B. J., Pittman, L. D., Coley, R. L., & Chase-Lansdale, P. (2004); if they are both working, then they interchange caring for their children.

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

1. Hymowitz, , Kay S. (2014, February 8). How single motherhood hurts kids. The New York Times. Retrired from http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/.