Single Mother Reflection Paper

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Single Mothers Reflection
Being a single mother is a challenge, but is it an advantage or disadvantage? Since a few years ago the number of single mothers has been increasing rapidly. According to the Census Bureau of the United States, between 1985 and 2015 the number of single mothers increased by 10 million, but considering the total amount of families with children younger than 18 years old single mother households represent the 30 percent of them (Sandberg 122). It is clear that being a single mother should no longer be seen as something negative. Any woman can go through this situation regardless of her culture, education, or country. During the last few years, single mothers have faced several social and political challenges, and many …show more content…

Companies should offer more job opportunities to single mothers. A study realized in 2015 by the United States Census indicates that there are around 5.2 million of stay-at-home moms in married couple families; however, 9.9 million women are single mothers, and they cannot choose to stay at home or go to work. For that reason, most of the single mothers are obligated to work because they are the breadwinners and the only household support. Considering this, companies should promote single mothers for senior positions earlier than women and men without responsibilities. In the book Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg explains that many women hold themselves back for fear of having more obligations (149).Consequently, single mothers are included in this group of individuals who evade high-level jobs for apprehension of not fulfilling the requirements that the job requires. Nonetheless, single mothers should not be concerned because, according to Sandberg, “Parents have to make adjustments, compromises, and sacrifices every day” (122). Adaptation is the clue to succeed in a new job, and single mothers can easily learn to balance their time …show more content…

Among some of the laws in favor of women are the Violence Against Women Act ("VAWA"), which protects women against domestic abuse, Child Support Law, which protects children after parents ' divorce or separation, and some more. However, the United States laws are not perfect; some laws in the legal system do not help single mothers. As an illustration, there is not a law to protect single mothers’ goals; this means, single mothers are obligated to deal with their children 's father until those children become 18 years old. During this time, many single mothers are harassed by the father of their children; others have to follow instructions from their ex-partner because, according to the law, the father has to know and approve everything related with the child, so the life of the mother turns into a nightmare most of the time. Kristin Leong wrote about her experience in a viewpoint essay, and on it Kristin said that there was an incident when her ex-partner abandoned her two years old son by her house 's front door, all beaten. Then, he despaired. Since Kristin wanted an explanation, she tried to contact the child 's father, but he never answered. Hence, Kristin reported the event to the authorities, but "the judge said he couldn 't determine if the injuries were caused by abuse or neglect," then he added, "I 'm sorry," but, "neglect is not illegal in this state" (Leong). Like Kristin, many other

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