Ten million American women are raising children on their own. On this Mother's Day, we should thank these hard-working moms and look to what we as a society could be doing to improve their lives, and the lives of their children.
Today more than one in five American children (23 percent) lives in a family headed only by a mother. These 17 million children make up the next generation of Americans and they are their mothers are facing a steep uphill climb with little support from our nation's policymakers. One of the hard facts of life for single mothers today is that they must take care of their family on one, often very low income. Right now an unmarried woman -- a woman who is divorced, separated, widowed or single -- only makes 56 cents for every dollar made by a married man. The family income of nearly three in ten children living with a single mother is less than $15,000 a year.
Not surprisingly, then, the highest rate of poverty in the U.S. is in households headed by a single mother. Of all women living in poverty -- 75 percent are unmarried women. And this is despite the fact that more than half of single mothers in poverty are in the labor force -- either working or looking for work.
Further, in 2008, more than a third of single mother households and half of low-income single mother-households did not have enough money or other resources for food for their families. Indeed, more than four in ten "food-insecure" households with children under 18 are headed by a single mother.
These numbers are eye-popping and represent one of the biggest demographic shifts in the last 50 years. But our nation's policymakers have been slow to recognize or embrace this new family norm. Our policies are still being shaped by a definition of the family that does not reflect today's reality. Fact is the number of unmarried women and women-headed households is on the rise -- and the children they are raising are doing without basics: food, heath care, and housing.
We can do more to support the single moms raising our next generation, starting with providing the supports necessary for mothers who must combine working and caregiving. There is legislation before Congress now that would increase access to safe and affordable child care and to grants and tax credits that will help single mothers pay for higher education. There are also bills that have been crafted that would increase the economic security of these single mothers by raising the minimum wage and providing job training to help workers prepare for better jobs and careers. Congress also has the opportunity to pass legislation that would guarantee paid sick days for workers so that no mother--or anyone--gets fired for doing the responsible thing and caring for a sick child.
And, Congress has the power to give these women the best Mother's Day gift of all, and that would be to put an end to gender discrimination in wages and pass the Paycheck Fairness Act so these hardworking single mothers can bring home enough money to care for their families themselves.
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Rachael Freed: Legacy: Honoring Our Mothers
http://www.singlemomfinancialhelp.com/
http://www.singlemomfinancialhelp.com/
There are plenty of women whose only gift from their involvement with a man is responsibility for his child without his help. Don't confuse one case with all cases.
I hope we will wake up as a nation and realize our young men and women need careful training on the responsibilities of parenthood and the need for serious family planning. We have such good contraceptive choices now, everyone should be able to make sure they are emotionally and financially stable before becoming parents.
Your comment sounds as if you are pretty self-centered and bitter.
My sister always sends me a Happy Mother's Day card. She says I deserve a nod on both days. Pretty neat.
When we get our first drivers licence we are required to prove we know how to safely operate a vehicle. Unfortunately there is no requirement to prove we can successfully manage a relationship to get a marriage license. Proof of pre-marital counseling should be a manditory requirement. While this would do nothing to stem the number of out-of-wedlock births, it might cut down the number of divorces.
Taking care of the human needs of people should be provided through voluntarism and charity within the community, not through establishment of an always corrupted and coercive statist apparatus.
If we could get a handle on enforcing the laws and protecting our borders, there would be more money to care for our own and THEN we can look at giving charity and volunteerism to these foreigners. Do you feel that it should be a crime for our tax dollars to be given away thusly?
PS: What kind of volunteerism and charity are you involved in?
And I don't personally give to any charity at this time, since I'm on a thin edge of homelessness and destitution at the moment. But I do and have helped members of my family with housing and other stuff. Maybe if the society was richer, and less of our efforts were being redirected to assorted boondoggles like wars of choice, there'd be more opportunity, and wealth here at home and I'd be in a better position to give to charity.
Well said there, even if it is harsh.
However, it isn't marriage that creates a stable family. It is that responsible people are more likely to make a relationship (or marriage) last a long time. Marriage is a cultural construct that formalizes the notion of a stable relationship - you don't need to be married to be responsible and have a stable family unit.
If the resulting lives for these women are difficult, well duh they made their bed now they must lie in it. Any simpathy I have is for they children, who didn't choose to be brought into this situation. Any government programs should be structured to best support the children, and attempt tp make the best of the situation they find themselves in.
It is possible that a woman can end up a single mother even if they consider all options and do the right things. However,...
I find several women picking the cute irresponsible guy to breed with, and then either end up as single mothers or find a poor geek schmuck to take care of of the love child. Women discounting 50% of the human population's perspective is as authoritarian as men in previous centuries preventing women from voting and treating them as second class people.
I am not fighting a patriarchy to replace it with a matriarchy. Women need to pay attention to whom they have children. If they feel compelled to "date" the irresposible "cute guy," at least make sure that no child results (birth control, or if that fails abort).