Recession and the Single Mom

Although every one has been affected in one way or another over the last few years in the recession, it seems as though single moms are even more affected than most. The excerpt below is part of an article written by Megan Carpentier of The Washington Independent. (http://washingtonindependent.com/78683/the-recession-came-for-single-moms-too). This is just a portion of the information was pulled from a feature written by the U.S. Department of Labor on The Bureau of Labor Statistics website (http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswp2008.pdf ).

*The Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report that showed the unemployment rate for married women at 6.1 percent, while that of single women “who maintain families,” reached a whopping 11.6 percent — 68 percent higher than when the recession began. Add to that the fact that women, as a whole, earn only 77 cents for every dollar a man brings home, and you find many single women whose situation has gone from difficult to dire.

It’s hard enough on single moms to financially cover all basic expenses of a child(ren), plus the additional burdens left unspoken for by the dads. (If they didn’t this would all go against their credit because in most cases the mom is listed as the primary caregiver of the child(ren)). Now combine this with being laid off and that is whole other mess entirely. Statistics have shown that most women are currently making less than a man (77 cents to every dollar to be exact) so we actually start off with a financial disadvantage in the beginning, but with such a high percentage being laid off it has really taken a toll on the single mom and the children. Even with the grants issued by Obama for the single mom to go back to school, what income do they have coming in while they are in school?