Kearney helps clarify single-mother challenges
In an interview with Kayla Hewitt and Dee Dwyer, Faculty Associate Melissa Kearney clarified some points about the challenges of single-parent families.
“We have mounds of data showing that households that only have one parent as compared to two - they have much less income coming in.” That, of course, is unsurprising. What those numbers don’t reflect, Kearney says, is that kids growing up in those households are less likely to graduate from high school or college and are more likely to become unmarried parents themselves. That begs the question of time : “If you want to drive your kid around to activities or sit down and help your kid with their homework," Kearney noted, "if there’s not another adult in the house who can help out with those chores, or who is doing the work of bring in income, you just have less time to engage in those sort of childbearing activities.”
"Voices of Wards 7 and 8 – single mothers: 'It’s pretty much a marathon' ”, WAMU Washington DC, April 8, 2024, Kayla Hewitt and Dee Dwyer