The Issue Of Single Parenting In The United States
The government has long viewed single parenting as an issue in the United States. Single parenthood is more common among low-income women who often experience unintended pregnancy when they are still unmarried and poor. While these women view marriage as a luxury that should be obtained once there is economic stability in the relationship, they observe childbearing as a necessity- that is, they are of the belief that having children is an absolutely essential part of their lives since it provides them with meaning and identity.
Although single mothers are wonderful parents, children who grow up with only one biological parent appear to be at a disadvantage. This disadvantage is mainly caused due to the lack of financial resources. Promises I Can Keep: Why Poor Women Put Motherhood Before Marriage tells the readers that on average, children raised by single parents tend to learn less in high school compared to children raised by both biological parents. The lack of financial resources also makes it difficult for mothers to cultivate their children’s interests in a variety of extra-curricular activities ranging from basketball to dance. Children raised in single parent households are also more likely to have children when they are in their teenage years and are less likely to enroll in college, thereby making it more difficult for them to find jobs. To address the growing trend of single-parent families, policy makers have advocated a renewed focus on providing job opportunities and improving employment opportunities among unskilled men. Cohen’s Welfare Reform Attitudes and Single Mothers’ Employment After 20 Years tells the readers that the Clinton government passed the Welfare Reform Bill in 1996 to help reduce the rise in single parenthood. This bill required single mothers to find employment within two years of receiving benefits. The bill also imposed a five-year lifetime limit for receiving benefits from the government. However, the bill did not prove to be as successful as it had intended to be. It ended up forcing a large number of women with young children to work, thereby increasing their hardship and struggle.
Edin and Kefalas’ Promises I Can Keep: Why Poor Women Put Motherhood Before Marriage mentions that women in poor families view childbearing as a method that helps them establish a sense of meaning and self-worth. Hence, if policymakers formulate policies that will provide an alternate manner of providing poor women with a sense of self-worth, they can effectively counter the rise in single parenthood. In fact, the results of an experiment showed that poor teenagers who engaged in meaningful after-school activities through an organized program over a period of time, observed a substantial decrease in the teenage pregnancy rate. The theory of decreasing the trend of single parenthood by improving self-worth through alternate methods can be strengthened by another observation. In the late 1990s, the U.S. economy experienced a boom, resulting in an increase in the labor market opportunities for unskilled workers. This resulted in a decline in nonmarital childbearing as women saw alternate reasons to achieve meaning in their lives. Thus, policymakers could work on implementing programs that increases self-worth of women.
The issue of single parenting is also impacted by the meaning of marriage for poor women. Most of them say that they will only consider marriage once they and their partners have achieved a particular standard of economic security. Hence it would be beneficial if policy makers drafted policies that provided long-term methods of increasing access to economic security among the poor. The improvement in economic security would be an integral factor in strengthening relationships – thereby increasing marriage rates and decreasing single parenthood.
Keeping these conclusions and findings in mind, policy makers can help address the issue of single parenthood.
