Making Ends Meet
How Single Mothers Survive Welfare and Low-Wage Work
The state of single mothers in America is an issue of great importance to us all. The children of today will be the future leaders therefore, securing them a positive childhood is imperative to society existence. I agree with the author Christopher Jencks in his article Making Ends Meet, (2001) he documents that single mothers maintain the highest poverty level, and how the welfare reforms seemed to do little to help the situation. Offering single mothers low wage employment (lacking job stability and skilled training) is only serving as a temporary solution to a growing problem. To refuse welfare to women without an education or marketable job skills and expecting them to find employment to support their families is senseless.
Single mothers experience economic hardship when they take minimum-wage jobs. They will need childcare, which can be extremely expensive.
A chart showing average monthly welfare benefits (...
English: poverty
Child care arrangements for children under age 5 w...Attitudes or competence on the part of household members such, as a relative that neglects to pay some of their expenses. Or when unexpected expenses may arise and impact their income such as, major automobile repair expenses, family illness or other household emergencies.
One of the most important changes that must be made is to increase the amount of education women on welfare receive. All women should be strongly encouraged to continue their education, perhaps to attend a vocational school or college. The single mothers who are attending an educational program full time should be provided child-care while in class and be exempt from work requirements if they keep above average grade points. The time and money invested in self-sufficiency will be repaid when they can utilize their education and become a part of the work force. With marketable skills the task of finding a well-paying job with benefits and...