Monday, 27 August 2012

An Insight to the life of an American Single Mother

United States has seen a massive spate in single parenthood in the recent years. The rise in the statistics related to single parenthood is accompanied by high level of income inequality. An American Single Mother leads a life of adversities and sacrifices. Majority of single mothers lead a stressful life deprived of good education.



If we turn back the clock by 30 years, less than 20% of the children born in United States were outside marriage. Now, the rate has doubled where nearly 41% of the total births occur outside marriage. There has also been a downfall in the statistics related to women education. Statistics reveal that in 1990, nearly 10% of the women with no college degree gave birth to children. Now, there has been a rise in the percentage to 30%.

These changes in single mothers statistics are also accompanied with high level of income inequality. Many contribute these changes in statistics to diverging structures of families. There is high likelihood that these factors of inequality would affect the upcoming generations as well. The reason behind the poor state of single mother families can be attributed to majority of their employment in retail sector which offers inflexibility in work, lack of proper benefits, and poor payouts. It has been estimated that half of the retail industry workers are underpaid with less than $10 per hour and do not get health insurance.

These facts lay the foundation of poverty and income disparity for families of single mothers. Single moms earn less than half of what a two-parent household or a married couple brings in. They are deprived of quality education which holds them back from chasing their career dreams. In view of their familial responsibilities, which they have no one to share with, they have to settle down for limited options available. Being exposed to chronic health problems also predisposes them to lose a day’s worth of pay and even risks their job with frequent absence from work.

Dealing with childcare is one of the biggest challenges in the way of a single mother. Rentals, daily expenses, high cost of childcare directly affect a single mother’s ability to save and build asset. It has been estimated that a large number of single mothers end up paying 75% of their total income towards childcare.


It is vital for every single mother to make use of measures of help available around. They should seek information on how to create a budget catered to single mothers. They can make their life easy with the help of grants, assistance programs, schemes, and financial aids. From Food Stamps to easy mortgage loans, there are programs to match every need of single mothers. There are plenty of home-based opportunities that can help single mothers earn decent sum and spend time with children. Every single mom needs to be conscious and observant to make the most of what is available around. This will not only bring down the inequality in income but it will also help them raise the standard of living for the family.

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