Poverty and the Single Parent

In 2003 the United States Census Bureau reported that there were 73,001 children under the age of 18 living in the United States. Of these children, 27.5% resided in a single parent home. 16,770 of children in single parent homes lived with their mothers only (http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/hh-fam/ch1.xls). Though more children from two parent homes are in poverty, this is only because there are more two parent homes in the United States.

However, a higher proportion of children in poverty come from single parent homes (Dowd 1997: 20). In 2003 also, the Census Bureau reported 42.3% of children who are being raised by single mothers were below poverty (http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/histpov/hstpov10.html). In addition, children are the fastest growing segment of those in poverty. When considering this with the fact that half of poor children in the United States live in single parent families, one can see that poverty combined with single parenthood is a major issue facing the youth of America (Dowd 1997: 19-20).

In a consumer society like the United States, it is becoming more and more important to have a second income for all households (Kinnear 1999: 17). This has particularly harsh repercussions for the single parent family which cannot gain a second income. It comes as no surprise that single parent families have less income than two parent families. Still, it may come as a surprise that the single parent family makes less than one-third as much as the two parent family (McLanahan and Sandefur 1994: 79-81), and the poverty rate for single parent homes is 6 times that of two parent homes (Renwick 1998: 3). Considering the statistic that one-third of those in the work force will be single parents at some point in their life, we find that poverty has an effect on more households than one might imagine (Dowd 1997: 21).

This disparity may be the cause of an already recognize gender wage gap that exists in the United States (Kinnear 1999: 15-16). For example, in 1990 the median weekly income for women who contributed to a family budget was $81 less than a man's earnings (Dowd 1997: 20-21). Even married women suffer from unequal wages. On average, married women make half of what married men make (Kinnear 1999: 16). This is why female headed households account for only 10% of homes but one-third of the poor United States (Dowd 1997: 19). In fact, single father families are less likely to encounter poverty then single mother homes (Kinnear 1999: 15).

Even more threatening to the financial stability of the working single mother is discrimination in the hiring process. 80% of single mothers are in the workforce. When considering this statistic with the fact that one-third of jobs do not pay enough to stay above the poverty line, single mothers stand to suffer from a lack of income. Only 43% of single mothers make over $15,000 in a year and only one in fifty make more than $30,000 a year. This is because single mothers usually work blue-collar and service jobs.

Therefore, when women must leave the labor force to give birth, they not only loose wages, but many times their jobs due to lack of fringe benefits such as maternity leave (Dowd 1997: 20-24). Lapses in employment such as these make it almost impossible for women to advance in the job market and pursue careers (Kinnear 1999: 21).

Another factor limiting single mothers' ability to attain gainful employment is youth. Young women are more likely to become single parents because divorce is high among young couples and unwed mothers are typically younger than married mothers. When a young woman becomes a single parent, she often lacks the skills and education to reach a high salary (Dowd 1997: 21). This translates to a great deal of poverty for single parents. Single parents with less than a high school diploma are 28 times more likely to live in poverty (McLanahan and Sandefur 1994: 85).

Though the majority of income received by single parent households is from wages, the inability to gain employment which can provide for one's children often results in the need for government aid (Dowd 1997: 25). Yet, only 25% of single parents receive government assistance (Renwick 1998: 4). Of these single parents on welfare, 60% of households leave the welfare system within 3 years. Nevertheless, 50% return to welfare within a year because they cannot find gainful employment. This is because, according to one study done in the Florida welfare system, employed single parents made $157 less than their counterparts still on welfare (Dowd 1997: 24-25). When one considers the cost of child care while a single parent is at work, it becomes obvious that welfare is the better choice for the single parent family (Renwick 1998: 4). However, public assistance regularly brings families to only 70% of the poverty line (Dowd 1997: 24).

Many single parents find it necessary to stay out of work not only for welfare benefits, but also for benefits such as Medicaid (Dowd 1997:22). Without Medicaid benefits, single mothers often do not seek pre-natal care. In addition, they utilize the emergency room for doctor's visits when they do not have comprehensive medical coverage (Kinnear 1999: 23). Other government benefits awarded to single parents include food stamps, school lunches, child care subsidies, and subsidized housing (Renwick 1998: 89-91).
Another major monetary problem facing single parents is the cost of housing. On average, single parents pay 70% of their income towards rent and approximately two-thirds rent as opposed to own. This has much to do with the discrimination single parents face from banks and lenders. Single parents are much more likely to be homeless than married families. This is due to the fact they single parent families often lack a social support system that can house them when they loose their homes (Kinnear 1999: 23-25).

The most basic support system single parents lack is the other biological parent of their children. Even when the second parent isn't physically present, the government intended to aid single parents by forcing the non-custodial parent to support the children. However, only two-thirds of custodial parent receive child support. When single parents do receive child support is it usually below the court awarded amount. In many case the benefits are not received at all (Dowd 1997: 20).

Discrimination in the work force, inadequate welfare benefits, and insufficient child support all contribute to the growing poverty of single parent households (Kinnear 1999: 16). We are increasingly finding that even the amount of money set by the poverty line cannot support single parents and their children. In 1998, Trudi J. Renwick debated the validity of the poverty line set by the U.S. government. She claimed that the government did not take into account the cost of child care, adjust for the age of children in the price of food, and modify for travel expenses. According to Renwick's research, the poverty level for a mother with young children who stays home should be raised by $5,059. She also found that according to her concept of Basic Needs Budgets the poverty line for a mother who is working with older children should be raised by $7,775. Finally, the working mother with young children needs and astonishing $16,466 above the poverty line of $12,641 to make ends meet (Renwick 1998: 4-75).