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Social And Political Backlash Of Single Mothers

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Social and Political Backlash of Single Mothers Single parents have been criticized since the beginning times of early settlers and their negative backlash has deep roots in American culture. Even before the American government was established, early settlers borrowed ideas from England to create settlements laws and colonial poor laws in the 17th century to punish women who didn’t have husbands and mothers whom unfortunately were not part of a marriage. The sole purpose early settlers established these laws were to punish women who committed adultery or fornication. Men too, were held accountable for children born out of wedlock. These laws remained in effect throughout the early colonial times. Centuries later when Ronald Reagan became president the laws took drastic changes and it was during the Reagan’s presidential era, that one cannot help, but to notice the drastic social changes that occurred during the 1970s and 1980s. Fundamental roles and social changes created a concern for how people view the conservative ideology in the United States with emphasize on single parents’, especially women. Adding to the concerns, an increase in single mothers, teenage pregnancy, divorce rates caused the government to cut back on public programs such as, Medicaid, food stamps, maternal and child health services. The president himself labeled women of low income communities as “welfare queens.” Due to the government’s decision to cut back on public programs, consequently an

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