Challenging Bias: The Social and Legal Struggles of Single Mothers in America
There is a strong cultural belief in the United States that women can only be fulfilled by embracing their vocations as mothers. This expectation, while not inherently negative, sets a standard for women that influences societal attitudes towards those who either conform to or deviate from it.
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When it comes to single mothers, this is especially true. The systemic bias towards the “nuclear family” has challenged societal expectations and cultural narratives that shape the treatment of women. Such opinions often extend beyond colloquial discourse, influencing the government, legislation, and everyday policies. However, legal biases that take root in societal norms create barriers for single mothers, exacerbate the challenges they already face, and emphasize the broader issue of social injustice toward women in general.
Many people tend to view single motherhood under a moralistic lens, associating it with recklessness or promiscuity. Single mothers are seen as destabilizing, as their existence contradicts traditional roles that have been ingrained in society. Consequently, this perspective can manifest in discriminatory practices such as economic, healthcare, and employment hardships. In the United States, these effects are often indirect. For example, the Child Tax Credit was introduced with the intention for median-income married couples to face lower tax burdens for filing jointly. However, it increased the tax burden on single-parent households with an equal number of children to a median household. Single parents stop receiving full benefits when their income exceeds $200,000 per year whereas for two-parent households, the limit is $400,000. Bias in legislation results in single mothers getting penalized simply for not fitting into a social standard. It also shows how criticism towards single mothers can become detrimental, even if the intention behind it is to improve society.
In contrast, many argue that this issue is a result of actions single mothers themselves are committing. This produces strong support for legislative measures that promote marriage to provide financial stability and emotional support as a solution. In effect, single mothers are driven into poverty and deprivation through systemic problems. One of the most absurd examples of this is in ‘The Blueprint to Save America,’ the Republican Study Committee’s fiscal report from June 2022. The report emphasizes that marriage should be a priority of government spending instead of expanding the social safety net, which enforces the idea that women are expected to conform or domesticate to be happy and safe. The assumption that marriage is a universal solution does not account for personal backgrounds or the nuances of relationships. Those who fail to recognize this are unable to realize that these are consequences of broader systemic issues, as opposed to being caused by single mothers themselves.
Additionally, laws that view partnership as a solution to single-parent families have rigid restrictions regarding what those relationships must entail. For instance, the same fiscal report, ‘The Blueprint to Save America’, fails to mention single fathers as a cause for poverty. Instead, it places blame on single mothers for being irresponsible with their lives, and thus jeopardizing the lives of their children. To support today's diverse family structures, attitudes, and opinions need to change. The suffering of single mothers across the nation has been weaponized to defend a weak definition of what it means to be a woman. A 2021 report from the Pew Research Center found that Americans are more likely to say single women raising children on their own and couples who live together without being married are worse for society than they were three years ago. Legal biases don’t just negatively affect the groups they target, but the attitudes of those around them about the issue. Instead of clinging to generalized statements surrounding single mothers and consequently perpetuating negative stereotypes, there must be a huge shift in the empathy and support given to these individuals. It is not plausible to change the circumstances that put single mothers in their positions, but it is possible to alleviate them. Single mothers deserve equal access to knowledge and materials that make navigating their situations easier. While it is important to educate others about the risks of becoming a single parent, it is also necessary that those already in such positions are provided with help and sensitivity.
