Single Mothers in America Essays

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.

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.

Welfare gives individuals the opportunity to get back on track and receive financial aid for their families and themselves. Welfare comes in many forms such as: monetary payments, subsidies and vouchers, or housing assistance. By receiving welfare each individual is responsible for meeting certain criteria. The criteria required to meet is made so that it is made “fair” to everyone. For welfare to be fair though the rules must be forced upon to all of the individuals that are requesting the extra help. Many people abuse the welfare system, but someone has to put their foot down and say that enough is enough.

Welfare is a public assistance program that provides at least a minimum of money assistance to Americans that are in the poverty rate, to be able to live a sustainable standard of living. Each state has their own guidelines, and offers the basic benefits of welfare which are child care assistance, housing assistance, health care, cash aid, and food stamps. (US

Welfare states, also known as public assistance; are designed to aid the needs of the population, transferring funds from the state, to the services provided for the individuals. The programs are provided by various organizations on a federal, state, local and private level; and vary in eligibility requirements, such as resident status, income and disabilities. Poverty alone does not qualify someone for these programs.

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.

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

In the United States around 82.2% of custodial parents are mothers; 30.4% of them and their children lived in poverty in the year 2009 (Wolf, 2017). The gender gap in the workplace can keep a single mother from being able to fully get out of poverty. A single mother earns less than a single father does. In the year 2015 it was noted that single mothers earned 70.7% of the income single fathers had earned (Industry Week Staff, 2017). It is harder for a single mother, who may have never been married to begin with, to invest in schooling when she is trying to cover the costs of her children and

One of the best things the government has done for society is welcome welfare into America. Welfare is a great program known to help people who really need help with things like food, bills, housing, and even money. Welfare is a program ran under the government to help needy families who can’t provide things like others. Some programs under welfare include supplemental nutrition assistance, temporary assistance, Medicaid, Section 8, and even Women Infant and Children (WIC). For these programs you have to bring proof of residence, social security card, health and financial information when you go apply for these benefits from the government. These programs are very helpful for those who need help and these are some reason why welfare programs

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,

Welfare provides child protective services they keep children from having from their basic needs for food,clothing and shelter. Child services also provide for the child's physical and emotional need. The children don't even know that what any of this mean so it's up to social workers to figure the life of the child some kids can be under the system until they are 18 years old and no one has adopted them. In 2010, 16.3% of all child abuse and neglect reports were made by educators. Child abuse is one reason we really need welfare because who will help find and take care of these kids that are getting

Welfare is temporary assistance for the underprivileged paid by the government with tax money. As stated, welfare is a system of the government, which means this system is paid by the working class in the form of taxes and the taxes are then distributed to assist the lesser privileged. The five components that make up social welfare are health care, education, cash retirement benefits, government cash transfers, and non-cash aids (Rector, par. 2). A key component to the definition of welfare is that it is temporary. The government limits aid to five years at most, but many states limit aid to two years (Lane 80). Welfare was created to help improve a situation and escape poverty (Lane 55); in other words, it was formed to help someone get back on his feet during a difficult time. Many different types of welfare of available for those in need. The various programs offered include TANF, health care, food stamps, child care assistance, unemployment, cash aid, and housing assistance ("US Welfare System - Help for US Citizens," par .5). USDA's Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, which is better known as food stamps, is the most commonly used and easiest to access due to the fact that one can overspend on excessive utility bills and rent and he

Government programs help families who are unable to help themselves because of limited ability or income. These families need assistance to continue their daily lives and contribute to our society. This assistance includes food stamps, reduced and free school lunches, housing assistance, unemployment insurance, and Head Start. By helping needy individuals, they are making an investment in a brighter future.

There is a perceived societal notion that all families start on an equal footing and should be treated as such by the benefit system. These ideas can serve as barriers and stigmas to single parents because they imply that there is a culture of welfare dependency amongst lone mothers in particular (May, 2010: 429). I will look to dispel the myth that lone motherhood is too tempting to resist and that the UK benefit system overindulges them. I will use statistics from charities and official government surveys to portray that it is the lack of financial encouragement that is leading to more single parent household. I will then discuss how unjust the financial climate is and how that reflects in underpaid single parents being forced to work more for less. Finally, I will assess whether cutting benefits would improve the situation or prove more detrimental in the long term by perpetuating poverty.

I am currently living in a household headed by a single mother. Having only one parent in the house at a time has always been the norm for me. I live with my mother and visit my father who lives a town away every other weekend. Growing up like in a pattern like this made it seem normal and it was for me and my younger brother. In Kate Roiphe’s essay “In Defense of Single Motherhood”, she talks about how a large majority of people have a set way of thinking when it comes to single mothers and what a family should look like. Single mothers are regarded as a bad way of raising children but, like Roiphe explained, it’s just not true. The idea that a family is as simple as a mother, father, and child is such an old fashioned way of thinking about family and it only hurts the children of single parents.