Neighborhood Issues- Single Mother Parenting and Poverty
Single Mother Parenting and Poverty in San Leandro City
San Leandro City is located within Alameda County in Bay Area (Anderson, 2013). Although the city is majorly made up of whites, it is a multi-racial culture compared other cities in Bay Area. There has been an increasing rate of poverty Bay Area compared to the rest of the State (Anderson, 2013). This paper focuses the issue of single-parenting and poverty in San Leandro City; it will further outline how single-parents families in the Bay Area, San Leandro City fare with the poverty. Through an interview with a Brooking Institute demographer, credible and reliable information regarding the issue of single-parent families and poverty rates were gathered.
The interviewee acknowledged that, rate of poverty is high for children living with single mothers (45.7%) than those in married families in San Leandro City (15.5%) (Anderson, 2013).Child poverty rates in single-mother families were even higher (49.0%) in other parts of the country. The rise in child poverty rates was attributed to the increasing number of single female householders who have children. According to Public Policy Institute of California (2013), the rates of poverty among single-mothers increased 41.5%. This percentage is further attributed high rates of separation and out-of-wedlock births. In addition, majority of single-mothers in San Leandro City are low income earners with low education.
The Effects of Single-Parent Life on Children
The interviewee categorized the effects of single-parent family life into: short-term impacts of divorce and lower socioeconomic status. Three factors were predictive of Bay Area children’s adjustment to their parent’s divorce. These included the economic status of the single-parent, passage of time, and kind of relationship with the residential parent. From the interviewee’s opinion, mother’s education, employment status, age, and income often influenced the children’s decision making on various issues. For instance, children from single-mothers usually have more influence on different family issues than those brought up by a married couple. However, children from single-mothers are likely to experience short-term economic and psychological disadvantages such as lower levels of education, and higher absentee rates at school, with boys being more negatively affected than girls.
Economies of Single-Parent Family Life
The demographer affirmed that, the most profound effect of divorce is economic deprivation for the single-mothers not only within Bay Area, but also in the rest of the world. This argument concurred with the Public Policy Institute of California’s (2013) study which indicated that, in the Alameda County, the custodian mother’s and children’s standard of living was reduced by about 30% while the noncustodial father’s standard of living increased by 15%. Consequently, the newly divorced mothers in the Bay Area are often forced to move into small apartments in undesirable neighborhoods due to lack of money to pay for adequate apartments. As a result, single-mothers are often compelled to leave the existing social networks and support and enter into the labor force.
Single-parenting affect the children’s involvement in making decisions regarding various processes. The respondent noted that, although all children growing up without the presence of a father are often posed with the challenge of making decisions, the consequences are more pronounced among boys. Perhaps, this is because the male-child is more dependent than a female-child on a male role model. However, analysis of dropout within Bay Area indicated that, the absence of a father affects both the boy and the girls’ educational achievement in the same manner (Public Policy Institute of California, 2013). Moreover, it emerged that most disadvantaged children from single-parent families in the area constitute whites (44%), Black (45%), and Hispanic (46%). These percentages were based on the rates of high school dropout risks among respective single-family children.
Copying with Poverty in Bay Area
As far as how the single-parents in the city were faring on with poverty was concerned, there were many challenges that single-parents were exposed to. The demographer reported that, copying with childbearing in San Leandro City had become difficult among single-parents. This was particularly because of responsibilities that each single-parent felt was too much. For instance, in single-parent families, the single parent makes all decisions and provides for all family needs. However, support from friends and help from relatives often offset the effects of overload such as anxiety, loneliness, and depression.
However, the interviewee admitted that since the society defines a family as an autonomous unit that is responsible for its own issues and well-being, it is always hard for single-parents to seek support from others. Despite these challenges, some single parents have successfully raised their children alone. Such single-parents’ effort is promoted by the United Ways of the Bay Area that promotes financial stability for low-wage workers such as single-mothers and support children from such families to attain the best in life. According to the interviewee, United Way brings partners across various sectors together, advocates for policy change, engage volunteers, and educates residents about poverty and resilient issues in the society. The respondent further pointed that, public assistance is regarded as an alternative to paid employment for single-parents within Bay Area. This support is often known as Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF). This program was formerly known as Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). It was designed to support single mothers and children. In conclusion, Bay Area especially San Leandro City experiences single-parent and related poverty issues. The rates of divorce within the region have increased thereby increasing single-parenting and poverty. However, through support programs, the city has managed to change lives of single parents and children; this ensures that single-parents and their children attain the best out of life.
References
Anderson, K. (2013). The number of US children living in single-parent homes has nearly doubled in 50 years: Census data. Retrieved 20 November, 2013, from, http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/the-number-of-children-living-in-single-parent-homes-has-nearly-doubled-in/
Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC). (2013). Child poverty in California. Retrieved 20 November, 2013, from, http://www.ppic.org/main/publication_show.asp?i=721
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