WUNRN
USA - WORKING SINGLE MOTHERS ARE
DISPROPORTIONATELY LIKELY TO LIVE IN POVERTY
A
new US Report finds that working single mothers, who head up more households
than ever across the nation, are more likely to be in poverty than their
married counterparts.
Direct Link to Full 16-Page 2014
Report:
http://www.workingpoorfamilies.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/WPFP_Low-Income-Working-Mothers-Report_021214.pdf Type
size larger for easier reading.
USA
- Working Single Mothers Are Disproportionately Likely to Live in Poverty
The Working Poor Families Project's policy brief "Low-Income
Working Mothers and State Policy: Investing for a Better Future" [PDF]
found that out of 7.1 million families headed by women, 4.1 million lived in
poverty, encompassing 8.5 million children. 39 percent of low-income working
families across the nation are managed by a single mother, and that number is
heavily influenced by factors like race: 65 percent of African-American
low-income working families, 31 percent of Latino low-income working families,
and 45 percent of low-income working families of other races are under the helm
of single women.
For many working single mothers, their
economic challenges are compounded by various factors. Education is
becoming more and more unattainable for low-income women, especially women of
color, and most single mothers are unable to complete their education due to
their resposiblities at home. Congress' cuts to the Supplemental Nutritional
Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps) make it more challenging for single
moms to get by, as do state-by-state failures in the Temporary Asisistance for Needy
Families program. Prior to the Affordable Care Act, many of them lacked health
insurance to cover medical costs as well.
Most of all, these women - a majority of whom are employed full-time - face
discrimination and pay inequity in the workplace and are siloed in lower-wage
fields. According to the policy brief, "even full-time hours are not
enough to lift families out of poverty."
Although the brief only outlines state-level policy recommendations to combat a
rising number of economically disadvantaged families in the nation, including
increasing access to education, Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care
Act, and raising the minimum wage, federal-level policies could also have a big
impact on the lives of single mothers. The
FAMILY Act, which expands paid family medical leave, would help women
raising families independently to maintain employment if their children become
ill. President Obama also encouraged employers across the country to pay their
workers equally without regard to sex or gender in his State of the Union
speech this January, which would help low-income women of all races, especially
women of color, and strengthen the economy.