Single Mom Essay

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

Single mothers are constantly put down and defined as bad by the world. Why does the world get to decide who single mothers are? I started my research on single parents although I found most of the negativity was towards single mothers. Society, stereotypes and the media have all given single parents a bad name. These negative things so often said affect the daily lives as well as the future of single parents. Because of the media, society and stereotypes, single mothers do not further their education, have low hopes for their future, themselves and their parenting; the media and society should recognize single mothers and their hard work.

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)

You have probably heard of Madonna. An extremely famous and successful singer, songwriter, actress, and also, single mother. However, unlike Madonna, many single mothers are struggling to raise their children and also finding time for themselves. This has been a very common and reoccurring problem in Canada. “About 8 in 10 lone-parent families were female lone-parent families in 2011, accounting for 12.8% of all census families, while male lone-parent families represented 3.5% of all census families.” (Statistics Canada, 2011) In The White Bone by Barbara Gowdy, Mud, a pregnant female elephant, is faced with a similar problem. Mud was abandoned by her birth family and she was at the mercy of a passing family that generously took them in, the She-S family. Single motherhood is a raising concern because it is increasing over the years and with this it is becoming harder to be a single parent. The reason is because the difference of their wages which effects their ability to support the family, health issues that may result due to stress, and lastly, the behaviour and relationship between the mother and her child.

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

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

Single homeless mothers typically happen due to recent economic declines resulting in home foreclosures. Studies have reported in Southern Nevada that homeless mothers and their children have a tendency to not get discovered by society, called the “hidden homeless”. These single homeless mothers and their kids do not live on the street, where their situation is public and visible, but one can discover single mothers and their kids living in overcrowded place. Policies to end homelessness must incorporate jobs that pay livable wages. Although homeless mothers who manage to find employment may be forced to leave their job when they announce their pregnancy. Which many individuals in Southern Nevada have a falsehood judgement that women chose homelessness, as you can see is not true because single mothers make the struggling effort to fight back homelessness, although given the low minimum wages and gender discrimination. Single homeless mothers still attempt to provide their children with some sort of shelter, despite the fact that of living in a house which people commonly would not experience

When we were first introduced this assignment, I was both excited and nervous. I was excited because it gave me the opportunity to step of my comfort zone; in addition, I was excited to be able to get out into the community and practice some of the social work skills that we have learned in class. However, I was nervous because I knew it would be hard to hear the struggles of a single-parent experiencing homelessness. As someone who was raised by a single-parent and almost experienced homelessness, I know how easy it can be to fall into homelessness. Overall, I was excited about doing this assignment because I truly did want to hear the stories that single-parents experiencing homelessness wanted to tell.

Being a single parent is tough in twenty first century. A single parent has to be the provider, the comforter, the teacher, and the disciplinarian all in one. In most single parent relationships, One feels that our priorities lie with our children first. Society seems to put some pressures on Single Mothers and Single Fathers. Single Mothers and Fathers are viewed differently. Single Mothers and Single Fathers are very common in present society. Both may have similar responsibilities but are quite differently viewed in society eyes. Single parenting is becoming a

In 2013, according to the U.S Census Bureau, approximately 46% of children in single-mother households were living in poverty and only 11% of children with married parents were living in poverty (Luscombe, 2014). In 1997, the poverty rate among single mothers was 32.6% and for those married couples in was only 5.6%, so as you can see the poverty rate among singe-mothers has increased over the years. Single-mothers are the poorest and fastest growing family type in the United States (London, 2000, p. 93). Recently, attitudes towards single mothers have changed dramatically, and policymakers are being pressed to create reforms that will reduce welfare dependency (Kimmel, 1995, p. 271). Full time work is used as a mean to help poverty reduction among single mothers, but then they face the challenges of child care costs, which is a significant employment barrier. (Kimmel, 1995, p. 271). On average, in 1995, child care costs were about sixty three dollars per week overall, and about forty forty dollars per week if they were cared for by a relative, so for the typical single mother, child care costs would range between 15% and 30% of the mothers earned income, depending on the type of care and hourly wage (Kimmel, 1995, p. 271). Living in poverty with a single mother can have an impact on the children in the household. Children from single mother households face the highest risks of living in poverty and. As of 2009, 18.5% of white children, 25.7% of Hispanic

Being a single mother in a world where money is salient is where hardship takes place. Mothers are usually seen as taking care of the kids while the husband puts

The journal article is talking about the difficulties which the single-parent families facing, such as emotional problems, housing stress and financial stress. It generated different viewpoints from different literature, and suggested an approach to meet the needs of single-parents.

This isn’t really an issue that is just for single mothers this is a woman issue. We are taught from a very young age to be in competition with one another, that only so many of us can succeed so we don’t work together, we don’t build one another up and we don’t help each other out. It gets worse unfortunately when we become single mothers because society is telling us that we have an even less chance to find success so instead of forming an alliance and supporting one another we become like crabs in a bucket and attempt to climb out by pulling one another down. This is definitely a serious issue that we’ve got to do whatever it takes to eradicate. The first step is always to be the change you seek. Get involved with single mother organizations,

Decreasing benefits to lone mothers will mean more poverty. The cost of and access to childcare means that lone mothers struggle to balance raising a child with keeping afloat financially. If the evidence shows us anything it is that lone motherhood results in low income and a poorer quality of life (Pulkingham et al., 2010: 272). The logic seems flawed that women would have children just so they could live off benefits. The other issue is that lone mothers would not necessarily choose to be lone mothers. If they are in a position where they cannot maintain a healthy relationship with

Polakow, Valerie. Life on the Edge: Single Mothers and Their Children in the Other America. Chicago: U of Chicago, 1993. Print.