From the NY Times;
Single mothers are still more likely to be employed than married mothers, for the obvious reason that they depend more heavily on their own earnings. But it’s harder for them to find jobs, in part because they find it harder to make child-care arrangements.
Unemployment rates among single mothers have long surpassed those among married men and women. In 2010, their unemployment rate averaged 14.6 percent, compared with 6.8 percent among married men and 6.3 percent among married mothers.
The Institute for Women’s Policy Research emphasizes that women have historically had less access than men to unemployment benefits. Most states restrict eligibility to those who experience involuntary job loss and exclude those who quit for reasons such as loss of child-care assistance or the need to tend to a sick family member. Until recently, most states excluded part-time workers from coverage.
by 
The “Insitute for Women’s Policy Research” clearly has the goal of ensuring that no woman ever suffers the consequences of any personal choice or action. That should do wonders for our society as a whole and for individuals. This reductio ad absurdum, that single mothers find themselves in difficult economic circumstances because of meanie governments and employers (!!!), really needs to be combatted. It will help no one, least of all the children, if we continue to hold no one to account for the things they do.
Yes, Laurie, but you also have to remember that it takes two to make a child. Single mothers tend to bear the brunt of bad choices made by BOTH themselves and the father of their children. In the cases where children are being raised by their mothers alone, there is a father…somewhere…who has failed his children and his family.
Lauri, I agree and think no one believes the government and employers are at fault for the economic circumstances of single mothers.
This article shows that single mothers are in fact out there and working, they comprise more of the workforce than married mothers do. However, of those that are in the workforce, their unemployment rate is over double that of married mothers.
Given that, we have to concede that single mothers find it harder to find jobs, especially jobs with security, than married mothers. While some women may choose to be single parents, others certainly don’t (unless one is advocating that abortion is a viable option and that since they didn’t “choose” abortion they “chose” to become a single parent). As I pro-life person, I feel like it’s my duty to pick up the slack for them. For me, this means promoting tax benefits and programs and employment opportunities that make it easier not only for single mothers to work, but for them to prioritize being a stay at home parent if they choose to do so.
Unfortunately, there’s no avoiding the fact that single mother households are at the highest risk of falling into poverty.
Melissa, I have to disagree that we can say that all single mothers are in that position because they made a baby with a man who has abandoned them. Some made the baby with a man they were perfectly well aware was not capable or willing to be a father. Others rejected fine fathers because they did not meet the women’s expectations of romance or married love or whatever.
Jennifer, I think Canada’s many federal and provincial assistance programs meet the basic needs of all her people. To create “special assistance” only for single mothers will incentivize further family breakdown and having children when career plans don’t pan out. I will concede that single mothers find it harder to find jobs, but I am not convinced that it is because they are single mothers. Rather, I think that they often have personal challenges that make finding and keeping good employment very difficult.
As a Catholic, I will always do what I can to ensure that people’s basic needs are met. However, I will not pretend that single mothers are all victims of somebody else’s indifference or even malice, nor that special accommodations must be made for them. This is, really, just an extension of early feminist thought: women must be specially treated and men must be demonized.