Solution!+Action!

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE SINGLE MOTHER IN AMERICA?
 * Solution/Action: **

In America, single motherhood is on the rise. With divorce rates increasing, it is leaving more single parents to raise their children alone. It is much more demanding being a single mother with children, rather than a two-parent family. Many negative stigmas are attached to single motherhood because people feel that they are uneducated, poor, and made bad decisions. In reality, every individual has a different background and story which can influence the way others view single mothers in America.

In a two-parent family, one parent can stay at home with the children, but usually in a single-mother family, she rarely has time to relax or spend time at home. Many single mothers pay large fees for daycare because they have to leave their child there for up to 8 hours per day. Single-mothers in today's society have their share of daily struggles and long-term disadvantages. The issues of expensive day care, shortage of quality time with children, balance of work and home duties, and economic struggle are among the seemingly endless problems these families must solve. Single-mother's economic burden is usually much greater than that of a single-father family. Therefore, single mothers often must work overtime shifts to compensate for the low salaries.
 * Why is it much more demanding being a single mother than a two-parent family.**

Single mothers are mainly portrayed as incapable, uneducated, and irresponsible. They continue to carry a negative stigma in our society. Many assume that because the woman is a single mother, she was careless and got pregnant with a random man. However, that is not always the case. Every woman has a different background and story. Single motherhood has a bad stereotype and more people need to be aware and more considerate. A study done by Pew Research asked to rank from a list of seven trends, and seven out of ten respondents reported "single mothers" as being bad for society. This study proves that most Americans view single motherhood in a negative light and are still unacceptable of it.
 * Why do most people view single motherhood in a negative stereotype.**


 * What are the leading causes of mothers being single?**

Now that nearly 36 percent of yearly births (as of 2004) are to unmarried women, it is simple to wonder why someone would chose to have a child by themselves when it is so much more demanding. It is very easy for someone to assume that a single mother got "knocked up", or had the father run out on her, but there are other reasons why a mother is single such as if she is divorced or separated or if the father passed away. Also, believe it or not, there are women who would simply rather have a child on their own, there is even an online community of these parents. Single Mothers by Choice (SMC) was created by Jane Mattes in 1981 after having a son by herself and loving it. Now, over twelve thousand single women have joined SMC to look for support on their decisions.