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Amanda Cordova English 2010/ Kilpatrick 24 February, 2014

How do income inequality and education affect single parents?

When I decided to go back to school I was worried that I would not be able to get through one semester without losing my sanity. I am now on my third semester with my sanity somewhat intact. The the number one problem for single parents is the ability to juggle family, work, and school as well as the financial hardship. A typical morning from me us getting my boys up and ready for school, grabbing theirs lunches and heading out the door. On my way to drop the boys off at school, I realize I have left all my school work at home. I dont have time to go back to get it. I start work eight am and its a 10 hour shift. So when am I going to have the time to run home and get it before class? That is just the morning after work I go home make dinner, help the boys with there homework (which is 2 hours for the 10 year old and 30 mins for the kindergartner) , then get them ready for bed. Which we read a few chapters from the book that we are reading that week. Finally after I clean up and get to my homework it well after 10 pm and all I want to do is go to sleep. Then I get up the next day and do it all over again.How can I manage this

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madness that is my life? Who can I go to for help? How many other single parents are going through what I am going through? In the Ohio State University research it states that the family structure has changed over the last 20 years dramatically. Single parent families with children under age 18 are at all-time high. They state that in the 1970 there was 3.8 million single parent families and by the 90s it has doubled to 9.7 million single parent families in the US. This is likely a outcome of the lower education abilities of single mothers, as well as the fact that they are younger and more likely to be black or Hispanic. Married mothers tend to be older and are disproportionately white and college-educated.It used to be that families became single parents due to death now it is children that are born to unwed mothers ( one in four children) who are teenagers and 40% are from divorce (Kirby). Hispanic teenage girls are the highest rate for teen pregnancies. Then african americans and lastly whites. Utah ranks #8 in teen pregnancies. New Hampshire ranks #1 in teen pregnancies so they are the lowest in the rank. New Mexico ranks the highest in teen pregnancies. New Mexico is also the highest state in poverty. finances 32% of her total income on child care) (Amato and Keith 1991) and the essentials that are needed i.e. food, clothing, and shelter for their children. You also need health insurance and a lot of families do not qualify for Medicaid. I for instance do not qualify I work to many hours and to high of pay to qualify even though I live paycheck to paycheck. I at least have a job that offers decent rates for a family if three. Where at other jobs offer insurance but at a high cost that does not really help their situation any.

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Child care in the US is only getting higher priced and many people are not able to afford the cost and there are needs that are not being meet. Like not enough teachers to children, but they do have standards they must meet for state regulations. Single parent are not the only ones in need of child care . Since married couples are both working they are in need of child care and more than half of people with their children in child care working just pay for them to be in day care. In nineteen states and D.C., the average cost of infant care was higher than $10,000. (Huffington post). Mississippi is the lowest state for child care. Massachusetts being the highest for child care, annual cost is 1$5,000 The higher the cost of living increases the higher all basic living goes up as well. Will the prices ever stop rising? You want a quality day care for your child so that you dont worry about their safety while you are away from them and also if you have classes at night most child care facilities close at/or around six pm. Most classes start from anywhere between five to eight pm. So if you have family that will help you, that is the cheapest and safest route to go. Unfortunately there are many people that do not have that option. Most the studies state that the reason for these are because financial hardship. They dont have the resources available to them opposed to the kids that come from a rich family does. Speaking from experience I feel guilty not spending enough time with my children and I feel that this how all the above problems start. I worry that my family will be another static but that is why I am striving to get a better education for myself and while its hard now I am looking at what the future is going to hold for my children and myself.

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Single parents are not the only one struggling financially. Now married couples, both have to work, instead of just the males working but the women now have to work to help with the expense of living. With women entering the work force again has nearly doubled. In 2007, a married mother earned an average income of $57,000 nearly double that of single moms. Even after the recession hit married couples the hardest, average real incomes of single moms were just 60 percent of married moms in 2012. Whereas the single parents income either stays the same or decreases. Single mothers are the lowest of earned income in the United States which is nothing new but they have dropped dramatically as well. They are not only fighting to keep afloat but also fighting the system to get equally paid to their male counterparts. Financial issues are not the only thing they are up against. Single parent households struggle with their children dropping out of school, having problems keeping a job, and studies have shown that these children are more likely to be addicted to drugs later on in life. They perpetuate the cycle their parents began and stay in poverty. There are plenty of people that choose to live this life and there are many that choose to not let where and how they were raised define them. There is always some difficult hurdles to overcome and you have to work hard to get what you want in life. You do not want you kids to go through the same hardship as you. You want them to get a good education and the way to do that is making sure that they are getting the best help that you can get. The standards for kids in public school here in Utah is rather low. Utah is among the bottom of the states with low education. As a parent this is concerning and makes my beliefs in public schools not existent. If we want our child to be the future then we need

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to change the education and give them a fighting chance. Single parents that are going back to school to better themselves are showing their children the importance of education, the school districts needs to do the same. There are plenty of private schools here in Utah that the education is better and some of the perks of private school is; more one on one time with students and the discipline and structure that they receive. In public schools they seem to be meeting a quota rather than helping the child. Not all public schools are the same but the less fortunate schools that do not have the resources to help their children. Private schools are great but there is a cost for better education and there are many that cannot afford the tuition and now parents do not get any vouchers from the state to helps with this cost or give credit to parents on their taxes. My boys attend catholic private school and it is a sacrifice to send them there but I have seen a huge difference in my oldest sons grade and general comprehension of his classes. We start at a public school for K- 2nd grade and he had so many problems and was disruptive in class because he was not being challenged enough. I made the decision to change schools. When he started in the 3rd grade he was at a 1st grade reading level and so he meet with a tutor daily and he was brought up to a 3rd grade reading level by the end of the year. Which is a goal I did not think was possible that fast and yes the effort came from my son to want to learn. So we need to help them so they do not drop out of school. Anxiety and depression are also on the rise for single parents that are trying to make a better life them and their children. Marsha Padwa, a psychology instructor at Harvard Medical School, has stated that it is difficult for single parents to juggle everything. She holds seminars for parents that are returning to school to further their education. Helping

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them to learn how to prioritize and organize their lives. Only if other communities throughout the US could find a way to let single parent know about some of the communities that help in these situations or seminars that people can attend. Sometimes its just knowing that there are people out there struggling as much as you are. They have forums and different web sites that How can single parent overcome poverty without help? 1.9 million Parents in college are single parents (Institute for Womens Policy Research) these parents are wanting to better themselves for the sake of their children. More than half of the single parents attending college also work full time. Single parents are lucky that there is so much help out there in forms of financial assistance as (their is so many foundations that are out their to finance school for single parents and the Pell Grants help a ton with that as well. As some institutions that offer affordable child care for students and their families. That does help take a pressure off these parents, but they are unable to manage time as well as finding classes that will fit into their schedules. With SLCC they do offer more classes in the evenings and for half the price which is nice for someone that needs night classes and lower tuition. Compared to big universities. As for managing time I am still trying to figure that one out. I am fortunate to have a wonderful support group of family and friends. Where there are so many single parents that dont have the luxury. My reality is that I would never be able to afford private school tuition for the two boys, live on our own and work 9 hour shifts at full time (medical assistant I make decent money for the state of Utah) and go to school with out the help of my family and with that help I am able to go back to school.

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In conclusion, How does income inequality and education affect single parents? Single parents want to get out of poverty and to do that they need more education. It may be a struggle but we have learned there are plenty of grants and scholarships out there to help. If we could lower the cost of child care with out lowering the standard and quality of the care. That would be beneficial to all parents not just single parents. Also helping with subsidy for private schools will help parents to give their children the education that they need to better themselves. The hardest is time management and trying to get that under control, that is the one thing I could not find abundance of resources about, that would really help. All situations are different so if we come across a useful resources we should try and get out there by word of mouth to help someone else out.

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Work Cited

Christina Couch, Tips for Going to College as a Single Parent. Published March26, 2013. Bankrate.com

MS. Kirby, Jacqueline Single-Parent Families in Poverty The Ohio State University Thompson, Derek How Americas Marriage Crisis Makes Income Inequality So Much Worse Wol, Garang Parents in college must juggle responsibilities

www.livescience.com/27418-state-teen-pregnancy-rates.html