The plight of a single mother living in poverty. Here’s what the numbers say…
According to the US 2020 Census there were 10.72 million single parent families with women representing over 80% of that number or approximately 8.58 million. Nearly a third of that number were living in poverty. So, how does a mother with one or more children raise a family today? Here are some additional data points regarding single mothers from the 2020 Census:
- 29% were jobless the entire year. The covid pandemic will not help this number improve any time soon.
- 28.7% were food insecure, meaning, they didn’t have food in the pantry and consistent access to healthy and good quality food.
- Only 22.4% received unemployment benefits. In California they are still sorting through paying out over $31 billion in fraudulent claims and so they suspended millions of accounts for those that need it.
- Only a third of single mothers received any child support and the average of those that received any was about $286 per month.
- 13.4% had no health insurance at all.
- The Federal Poverty Line (FPL) today for a family of four (4) is $26,500.
While many women decide to have children out of wedlock, the reasons for raising a family on their own vary. Many leave toxic and abusive relationships and decide to go it all alone on the streets. The ones that can barely survive end up in a dual parenting role. Often, they were abused by other men growing up because they too did not have a father figure. So…