Looking At The World Of A Single Mother Today

When someone tells you that they are a single mother, what images do you get in your mind? Is it divorce, death, poverty? How about strength, perseverance and financially stable?

Being a single mother today is more common now than in the past with the increased divorce rate and the stronger, more independent women of today. According to the text, "The percentage of U.S. children who live with two parents (not necessarily their biological parents) has dropped from 85 percent in 1970 to about 65 percent today" (Henslin page 337).

The social status of these single parents are not viewed the same as the typical nuclear family since most single parent homes are viewed as being poverty stricken. It is true that finances are a huge obstacle in the single parent household, but not all single parents are below the poverty level. In fact, the 2003 the Census Bureau showed that slightly less than half, 42.3 percent, of the single parent homes were in the poverty level. (Jones, 2007) This fact combined with the U.S. Social Class Ladder in our text, 57.7 percent of single parent families actually fall in top half of this ladder, lower middle to capitalist (Henlsin page 203). Even the author of the text takes from another source that puts all single mothers into one category and views them as poverty stricken, then goes on to say that a child raised by a single mother are more likely to drop out of school, get arrested, get divorced, etcÐ'... all based on the fact that they are viewing all single mothers as being below the poverty level (Henslin page 337).

A single mother could be someone who is divorced, widowed or never married. Based on the table shown in our text (Henslin page 340), the number of people between the ages of 20 and 24 who have never been married is greatly increasing. Women in this category went from 35% in 1970 to 73% in 2000. With more single women it seems to be common sense that there would also be more children born to single women. That is in fact the case as births to single mothers as increased 24% since 1970.

With the escalating divorce rate in this country, the issue of child support is increasing as well. To keep a single divorced mother from living strictly on one income they must insist on receiving their child support if ordered by the court. There are avenues they can follow to pursue non payment such as asking the IRS to intercept an income tax payment, attach a lien to his property through services available through your county social workers office.

Since the single mother only has one income, it is critical that they manage their finances closely, regardless of income level, to assure constant stability for their child or children. They must live within their means and spend wisely. This will usually mean not wearing the most expensive clothing or driving a BMW, even if your credit allows you to purchase such things (Reynolds/Bexton, 2007). They should save as much as possible to have as a backup in case they loose their job, have a child that is sick or injured. All of those things are important for every parent, but more so for the single parent since they are the sole source of income.

The single mother must create goals to keep themselves from just living day to day. A book about the finances of single mothers quotes the founder of J.C. Penney as saying "Give me a stock clerk with a goal, and I'll give you a woman who will make history. Give me a women with no goals, and I'll give you a stock