NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
By the end of twentieth century, contemporary society imposed on most mothers primary responsibility for children and their development. Simultaneously, this particular trend became very controversial regarding single mothers in the light of detrimental effects of poverty and welfare stigma on them. Having experienced similar problems of being a modern single mother, I certainly need more flexibility at the workplace and school, but am not as likely to get it as other workers or students. The main controversy is that only 55 percent of companies nationwide offer flex time, and that is most often an option for male workers, while single mothers by far have the most rigid schedules. Working Mother magazine reported last year that only 18 percent of companies offer child care resources, 7 percent sponsor sick child care, 4 percent offer before- or after-school care, 12 percent offer paid paternity leave and 20 percent offer elder-care resources.
Simultaneously, according to the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 71 percent of single mothers with children under the age of 18 are in the workforce and nearly 28 percent of unmarried moms are working and studying at the same time. It is an inevitable fact that single mothers are working to put bread on the table and to protect their children from poverty and disease, however, the most common way of coping with the problem of being a single mother is to apologize when family obligations intrude upon their work / school lives: I am running late this morning, son missed the bus, may I leave early to take him to the dentist and may I be excused from tomorrow seminar to go to a parent-teacher conference. In most of the cases single mother perceives herself as a bagger, experiences shame, which can provoke depression and other mental problems.
Therefore, when it is Bring Your Sons and Daughters to Work Day, one might unintentionally think: Don't we struggle hard enough not to have to bring our children to work? One of the possible ways to resolve the issue is to stop treating working single mothers as optional members of the workforce and acknowledge that raising children is a societal effort, not a female one. However, the majority of sociologists alleges that it may be difficult for society to abstract from historical female function, though scientists believe that the transformation of females family function itself provoked the situation contemporary single mothers are in. According to numerous sociological studies, 12 developed countries experienced changes in family structure and employment patterns during the last two decades of the 20 th century. In particular, the traditional nuclear family declined steadily, while the proportion of single-parent and one-person households rose in all developed countries.
Women of childbearing and child-rearing ages began to enter the labor force in greater numbers, and the proportion of working mothers with very young children increased rapidly in the last decade. In the United States single mothers have much higher rates of employment than most of their European counterparts, however according to sociologists poverty and health problems are far more common among American single mothers.
Free research essays on topics related to: workforce, developed countries, sociologists, single mothers, child care
Research essay sample on Single Mothers Developed Countries