http://www.elearners.com/projectworkingmom/about/most-americans-don-t-respect-single-moms/
Most Americans Don't Respect Single Moms
If you’re a single mom, you probably face a lot of obstacles in your daily life.
Money, childcare, stress, and anxiety are all hard things to manage when you’re shouldering the burden alone.
But new research suggests that economic worries and time management aren’t the biggest concerns for today’s mom-led households. Instead, the average American attitude may be your leading adversary.
Don’t believe it? Read on.
Most Americans have a lack of respect for single moms
eLearners.com (http://www.elearners.com), a web resource of EducationDynamics, which connects prospective students with online degrees, recently surveyed a random sampling of Americans (click for full details), and found that 56% of respondents don’t think single moms are respectable. To be clear: only 44% of those surveyed would classify single moms as “respectable.” This is roughly the same number of Americans that supports clemency for convicted murderers.
Do single moms get a bad rap?
Yes, definitely, and it's not fair.
Yes, but single moms should shoulder some of the blame.
No, no worse than any other type of mom.
VoteView Results
Share This
<a href="http://www.polldaddy.com/w.php?p=32240/">Take Our Poll</a><span style="font-size:9px;">(<a href="http://www.polldaddy.com">trends</a>)</span>
A full 27% of respondents believed that single moms should accept lower-paying jobs, in exchange for more time at home with their children. If that’s not immediately appalling, consider the fact that even back in 1950, 40% of women (between ages 25 and 54) worked outside the home. And that was 60 years ago!
Besides creating professional and financial dead ends for single mom families, low quality jobs are less stable – adding unemployment anxiety to an already difficult situation.
Even more alarming? Nearly 66% of those surveyed were against the idea that single moms should receive any special assistance – including financial aid for college or tax breaks. Compare that number to 70% of Americans who reported, in a similar-sized survey, that they support educational opportunities for prison inmates.
Evidently, the American public is more concerned with helping convicts climb the social ladder than law-abiding women, who happen to be single.
Unfortunately, public opinion does impact public policies
If these opinions were isolated, they’d be disappointing. Taken together, they’re downright dangerous. Unpopular ideas are unlikely to gain government support, which is usually a benefit of living in an enlightened democracy. But when it comes to single moms, Americans are proving to be far from enlightened.
According to the National Opinion Research Center, the majority of Americans support government spending that protects the environment, deals with drug addiction – even spending that beautifies U.S. parks. But very few people believe that public funds should be allocated for increased loans and scholarships that are dedicated to single moms. In short, Americans’ bad attitude towards single moms is more than just offensive. It’s creating a stigma that denies women adequate education support.
A college education is life-changing, and maybe life-saving
If you think that too much is being made of these statistics, then you haven’t been watching the news lately. Simply put: college offers a life-changing advantage. It remains undisputed that college degree holders earn many thousands more, per year, than non-college grads. Over the course of a career, the difference may add up to one million dollars or more. College degree holders are more likely to hold onto their jobs during tough economic times, and are qualified for far more positions if they do wind up job-hunting.
More importantly, recent studies indicate that college degree holders are healthier – thanks to a combination of factors, including more money for a better diet, increased access to health insurance, and decreased stress levels often associated with financial strain. Cancer patients with a college degree are less likely to die from their condition. College grads are also less likely to smoke, and more likely to exercise.
Why you should care
There are more than 10 million single moms in this country, all raising children under the age of 18. Regardless of their circumstances – widowed, divorced, or never married – these women are responsible for a huge percentage of our future citizens.
Custodial single moms are more than twice as likely to raise their kids in poverty as custodial single dads. And even if they are living above the poverty line, the majority of single moms lack an education beyond the high school level. The statistics are alarming, because poverty and lack of maternal education both have a proven, negative impact on kids’ academic achievement and social behavior.
Ways you can help to create change
Private companies and organizations are helping to fill the gaps that some Americans would rather ignore. Paving the way is eLearners.com, a leader in online education resources. For the past 3 years, eLearners.com has sponsored the Project Working Mom scholarship program, which is designed to help America’s moms earn the college degrees that they need to excel.
You can help raise awareness about the lack of opportunities for single moms by writing to your local representative, and by becoming our friend on Facebook. You can also help by:
Most Americans Don't Respect Single Moms
If you’re a single mom, you probably face a lot of obstacles in your daily life.
Money, childcare, stress, and anxiety are all hard things to manage when you’re shouldering the burden alone.
But new research suggests that economic worries and time management aren’t the biggest concerns for today’s mom-led households. Instead, the average American attitude may be your leading adversary.
Don’t believe it? Read on.
Most Americans have a lack of respect for single moms
eLearners.com (http://www.elearners.com), a web resource of EducationDynamics, which connects prospective students with online degrees, recently surveyed a random sampling of Americans (click for full details), and found that 56% of respondents don’t think single moms are respectable. To be clear: only 44% of those surveyed would classify single moms as “respectable.” This is roughly the same number of Americans that supports clemency for convicted murderers.
Do single moms get a bad rap?
Yes, definitely, and it's not fair.
Yes, but single moms should shoulder some of the blame.
No, no worse than any other type of mom.
VoteView Results
Share This
<a href="http://www.polldaddy.com/w.php?p=32240/">Take Our Poll</a><span style="font-size:9px;">(<a href="http://www.polldaddy.com">trends</a>)</span>
A full 27% of respondents believed that single moms should accept lower-paying jobs, in exchange for more time at home with their children. If that’s not immediately appalling, consider the fact that even back in 1950, 40% of women (between ages 25 and 54) worked outside the home. And that was 60 years ago!
Besides creating professional and financial dead ends for single mom families, low quality jobs are less stable – adding unemployment anxiety to an already difficult situation.
Even more alarming? Nearly 66% of those surveyed were against the idea that single moms should receive any special assistance – including financial aid for college or tax breaks. Compare that number to 70% of Americans who reported, in a similar-sized survey, that they support educational opportunities for prison inmates.
Evidently, the American public is more concerned with helping convicts climb the social ladder than law-abiding women, who happen to be single.
Unfortunately, public opinion does impact public policies
If these opinions were isolated, they’d be disappointing. Taken together, they’re downright dangerous. Unpopular ideas are unlikely to gain government support, which is usually a benefit of living in an enlightened democracy. But when it comes to single moms, Americans are proving to be far from enlightened.
According to the National Opinion Research Center, the majority of Americans support government spending that protects the environment, deals with drug addiction – even spending that beautifies U.S. parks. But very few people believe that public funds should be allocated for increased loans and scholarships that are dedicated to single moms. In short, Americans’ bad attitude towards single moms is more than just offensive. It’s creating a stigma that denies women adequate education support.
A college education is life-changing, and maybe life-saving
If you think that too much is being made of these statistics, then you haven’t been watching the news lately. Simply put: college offers a life-changing advantage. It remains undisputed that college degree holders earn many thousands more, per year, than non-college grads. Over the course of a career, the difference may add up to one million dollars or more. College degree holders are more likely to hold onto their jobs during tough economic times, and are qualified for far more positions if they do wind up job-hunting.
More importantly, recent studies indicate that college degree holders are healthier – thanks to a combination of factors, including more money for a better diet, increased access to health insurance, and decreased stress levels often associated with financial strain. Cancer patients with a college degree are less likely to die from their condition. College grads are also less likely to smoke, and more likely to exercise.
Why you should care
There are more than 10 million single moms in this country, all raising children under the age of 18. Regardless of their circumstances – widowed, divorced, or never married – these women are responsible for a huge percentage of our future citizens.
Custodial single moms are more than twice as likely to raise their kids in poverty as custodial single dads. And even if they are living above the poverty line, the majority of single moms lack an education beyond the high school level. The statistics are alarming, because poverty and lack of maternal education both have a proven, negative impact on kids’ academic achievement and social behavior.
Ways you can help to create change
Private companies and organizations are helping to fill the gaps that some Americans would rather ignore. Paving the way is eLearners.com, a leader in online education resources. For the past 3 years, eLearners.com has sponsored the Project Working Mom scholarship program, which is designed to help America’s moms earn the college degrees that they need to excel.
You can help raise awareness about the lack of opportunities for single moms by writing to your local representative, and by becoming our friend on Facebook. You can also help by:
- Taking our poll "Do Single Moms Get a Bad Rap?"
- Signing the Project Working Mom petition.
- Sharing on Facebook with your friends and family.
- Tweeting about this to your followers.
- Leaving a comment below about where you stand on this issue.
- Gallup, Inc. [http://www.gallup.com/poll/123638/in-u.s.-two-thirds-continue-support-death-penalty.aspx]
- Peter D. Hart Research Associates, Inc., "Changing Public Attitudes toward the Criminal Justice System," telephone survey of 1,056 U.S. adults and six focus groups, May-December 2001.
- National Opinion Research Center, “General Social Survey Codebook 1998.”
- FinAid.org. Benefits of a Higher Education. [http://www.finaid.org/educators/higheredbenefits.phtml]
- United States Census Department. Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2005. By Timothy S. Grall. Census, 2007. 17 Mar. 2008 [http://www.census.gov/prod/2007pubs/p60-234.pdf].
- U.S. Census Data and Not Just Getting By!: Single Working-Poor Mothers and Education, Mary Gatta, Ph.D., Center for Women and Work, Rutgers University
