Advocating for families

Close to 60% of children in the united states, who are living in a single mother family are impoverished. However, only 11% of two parent families are in poverty. This is very important because there are close to approximately 10,000,000 single mother families in the united states, and if 60% of those are in poverty, then close to 6,000,000 families are in poverty in the U.S. because they have a single mother. This is an issue because that is a lot of people living in poverty. If women don't get paid enough because of their lower paying jobs and the wage gap, then it is almost impossible to raise children while being a single mother.

That’s almost five million homes and families who are considered poor all because of the unfair gender pay gap we have today (National Partnerships). The reduced earnings of women have an impact on 7.4 million households run by single working women. Over two point one million families consisting of working single mothers were considered poor. An added two point four million working single mothers were severely struggling to barely make ends meet. They were falling between 100 and 200 pe... ... middle of paper ... ...and go through the same schooling; they deserve to be paid equally for what they worked for, just like men do (Wage Project).

With this being said single mothers are the ones who are being affected and who are one of the cases that live in poverty. They live in poverty due to being the only ones that are bringing money into the households and with their salary being $35,000 is not enough to provide for themselves along with their children. Family structure plays a big role in poverty. “The poverty of single mothers with children at home, of all races, is the highest among demographic groups, higher than any minority or age group.” states Edelman, Peter. (2014).

Given these statistics, discrimination against mothers is one of the strongest forms of gender bias. The wage gap between men and women is widely recognized, however there also exists a gap between mothers and women without children. While full-time working women without children earn 7 percent less than their male colleagues, mothers earn 23 percent less (Nelson 20). Even after controlling factors such as education, work commitment, and timing of return to the workforce after giving birth, working mothers earn 3% to 5% less than women without children (Miner et al. 60).

Reasons for why more women of color live in poverty are they have a larger pay gap, their spouses of color earn less than white men, and they are more likely to be single mothers. Even though, statistically there are more white single mothers, women of color are more disproportionately represented to be single mothers. As single mothers they have to support their family with their earnings, which is typically low. Women of color are usually paid 64 and 55 cents for every dollar earned by white men (Boushey, Gordon, & Ross, 2014). Income Inequality and Men Men faced similar challenges as women in employment rates and income.

Even after women leave their workplace, the pay gap will also be there. Because women usually are paid less during their working period compared to men. Normally, when women retire they receive less income from Social Security, pensions, and other sources than do retired men (Fischer & Hayes, 2013). Women will also get a smaller paid for their life insurance because it is usually based on their

Also, poverty levels in United States have usually increased. According to the 2011 U.S. Census Bureau, around 16% of American lived in poverty. The number of low income working families rise from 10.2 million in 2010 to 10.4 million in 2011, representing nearly one third of all working families. The causes of poverty in America are poor economy, lack of education, Drug use, and single mother. One cause for poverty in America

People of both sexes are born into families at every social level. Yet, on average, women earn lower income, accumulate less wealth, enjoy lower occupational prestige, and place lower in some areas of educational achievement than men do. Households headed by women are ten times more likely to be poor than those headed by men. Women make $0.75 for every $1.00 that men make. Race is strongly connected to social position in the United States.

Gender Inequality in the Workplace Women in professional occupations earn 72.7% of what men in the same position earn. Many women face wage gaps, harassment, fewer job opportunities and fewer promotions.Mothers are often told to choose between their career life and family life. Sexual discrimination has been at a standstill since the 1990s and has yet to improve. For every dollar a man makes a woman makes 77 cents in a similar job. 58% of women feel they have been mistreated at work, while 88% of women feel like they have missed out on job opportunities because of their gender.

Income Inequality: It’s Effect on African-American Single Mothers and Their Children. I believe that it’s not fair for single mothers to get paid less, when some of them are the back bones of this country. Currently the minimum wage, in the United States, is set to 8$ per hour. Women in general are only paid 77%, so it is appropriate to assume that through mathematics, women get a wage as high as $6.16. African-American women only get paid 64% of every dollar a man makes.