SETTING THEM UP TO FAIL:

SINGLE MOTHERS AND BUSY LIFE IN AMERICA

Stephany Murguia
Sociology 1010
Summer 2014
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. Articles
Clueless in Hollywood
The Welfare Myth
V. Data
VI. Theories
VII. Conclusion
VIII. References

"my experience is neither one of
dysfunction, nor is it an anomaly;
rather, it is a complex lived
experience informed by multiple
identities that have been ignored
and silenced by Western patriarchal
standards."
-Michelle Tellez from Lectures, Evaluations, and
Diapers: Navigating the Terrains of Chicana
Single Motherhood in the Academy
Introduction
The United States offers very little social resources and
support for all parents but single parents are especially
susceptible to those disadvantages (Macionis 2013,
p.323-324).
We often hear of women can have it all or have the
hardest job in the word but often those messages are not
followed by actual changes in policy to help support them.
I am exploring the following questions :
What is the reality of single mothers?
What kind of changes can be made to better support
single mothers?


My lived experience:
I am a single mother and
although I am thankful to have a
lot of privileges, I struggle with
the negative messages in the
media and state and national
policies that largely ignore
resources for single mothers. I
know, from the work that I do
with single mothers, that this isnt
unique to me and that many
single mothers struggle to raise
their children, juggle their own
happiness, improve their lives and
meet the requirements of a
United States culture that values
productivity and a can do attitude
above all else.
Clueless in Hollywood: Single moms in contemporary family movies
By Angharad N. Valdivia
This article analyses recent portrayals of single mothers. Specifically, how within film some mothers are defined as bad and some as
good and how those examples often define and feed into bigger portrayals of single mothers on a national and policy level. Some of the films
analyzed by the author were: Mrs. Doubtfire, Jerry McGuire, Forrest Gump and other films throughout the 1990s and early 2000s.
One example was the portrayal of two single mothers in Forrest Gump; Forrests own mother and later Jenny the mother of his
child. Forrests mom goes to extraordinary efforts to make it on her own and save him from his own disabilities. Jenny succumbs to addiction and
sexual promiscuity and ultimately dies leaving Forrest to be the hero for his son and raise him. The author argues that these depictions are intentional
and feed into the national discourse of a good mother that makes it on her own and a bad mother, in this case Jenny who couldnt and didnt want
to be saved.
This related to my research in that its an analysis of the prominent discourses that have been used to impact policies for families but
especially single mothers.

The Welfare Myth: Disentangling the Long-Term Effects of Poverty and Welfare Receipt for Young Single Mothers
By Thomas P. Vartanian & Justine M. McNamara

This study looked at the effects of receiving welfare on single mothers
and their long term earning potential and stable relationships. They had
two groups one group of single mothers who received welfare and one
who did not. This study showed that there was no significant difference
between the two groups in terms of long term effects; thus showing some
evidence against the dominant rhetoric of welfare as a debilitating factor
in the lives of some populations.
This study shows no correlation between the negative effects of being a
single mother; that again is often used to uphold the nuclear family.
Instead of focusing on getting women off welfare in order
to improve their economic chances, policies need to instead
focus on lifting young single women with children out of
poverty in early adulthood. (Vartanian &McNamara, 2004)



Charts and Data
Women In Poverty: By Household Composition
Although, discourses paint single parenthood as dismal for
poverty rates, the actual poverty rates for single women w/o
children vs. those with children are higher for those w/o children.
It seems the biggest factor indicating poverty is gender and not
family status.
Public Attitudes on Single Mothers
According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center the
opinions of the general American Public towards single motherhood
are clear. Sixty-nine percent of 2,691 men and women surveyed
stated they thought more single mothers were a bad thing in regards
to society and culture and the construction of the family.
U.S. Census Bureau 2008
1- Single Women, No Children: 54%
2- Single Women, With Children: 26%
3- Married Women, No Children: 12%
4- Married Women, With Children: 8%
Pew Research Center 2010
1- Single motherhood a bad thing: 69%
2- Single motherhood made no difference: 24%
3- Single motherhood a good thing: 4%
Single Motherhood as Social Problem
Structural-Functional
Theory
Symbolic-Interaction
Theory
Social Conflict
Theory
Families exist because they
perform four major functions:
reproduction, stable environment,
economic and emotional
(Murdock, 1949). This approach
views single motherhood as
potentially threatening to the
functions of a family and to be
deterred for a stable society.
A family is an ongoing interaction
between individuals; the most
important function is to create
stability, intimacy and help
develop healthy individual
identities (Macionis 2014, p.
334). This approach would stay
away from making
generalizations and allow for a
positive enactment of single
motherhood.
The family is a social construct
that works to pass on wealth
(Engels, 1884), and gender
inequality. The way families are
structured now, although there
have been some changes in the
status of women, is the problem
(Macionis 2014, p. 335). Nuclear
families should be questioned and
other variations, including single
motherhood, could be viable
alternatives.
Conclusion
In order to help improve the outcomes for single mothers and their children's
we must step away from the structural-functional analysis of single
parenthood that prioritizes nuclear families and move towards a symbolic
interaction or social conflict theory approach that questions some of those
foundations and reframes the conversations.
The dual discourses of single mother hood are harmful to women who are
past the point of re-making that decision or circumstances that lead to single
motherhood. Although there is some research to show that negative effects
are correlated that does not mean they are inevitable.
Policy changes like, subsidized day care, family friendly work places, higher
wages, better access to health care and improved educational resources will
help bridge the gaps for single mothers and all families in general.
References:
Andersen, K. (2013, January 4). The number of US children living in single-parent homes has nearly
doubled in 50 years: Census data. . Retrieved June 27, 2014, from http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/the-
number-of-children-living-in-single-parent-homes-has-nearly-doubled-in
Macionins, J. J. (2014). Social Problems ( 5
th
ed.). Boston: Pearson.
Pew Research Center. The Decline of Marriages and Rise of New Families. (2010, November 18).
Tllez, M. (2013). Lectures, Evaluations, and Diapers: Navigating the Terrains of Chicana Single
Motherhood in the Academy. Feminist Formations, 25(3), 79-97. doi:10.1353/ff.2013.0039
Valdivia, A. N. (1998, July). Clueless in Hollywood: Single moms in contemporary family movies.
Journal of Communication Inquiry. p. 272.
Vartanian, T. P., & McNamara, J. M. (2004). The Welfare Myth: Disentangling the Long-Term Effects of
Poverty and Welfare Receipt for Young Single Mothers. Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare, 31(4),
105-140.
U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2008 Annual and Social Economic Supplement.