Great Depression: Single Parent Women

The Great Depression brought not only financial and economic crisis for those who lived through it, but it also brought about changes in the way which woman participated in, and were viewed in society and the working world. Woman began to leave the home to find jobs so they could help provide for their families, but unfortunately these women struggled to find acceptance and jobs in the professional world. Single mothers especially, received harsh judgment form potential employers and society alike. I believe that this harsh judgment and treatment stems from several ideas, one of which being that single mothers break away from the traditional idea of a mothers and father, two parent home, which had long been believed to be the best living situation for children to grow in. Many have long believed that it is crucial for there to be influence from both …show more content…
“Most of the people who have used this program are single-parent woman, and a disturbing number have been terminated at 5 years, not having made a successful transition to work” (Ford, Hildebrandt). When conducting a study of single-mother woman who had participated in the TANF program, they found that African-American woman interviewed in the state they had researched made up 65% of the TANF participants but also accounted for 85% of the people terminated after the 5 year period. This suggest that minority groups who use TANF’s resourced may not have as many available resourced for successful transition, or encounter “higher barriers” (i.e lack of training/education, chronic health issues, lack of support or liable support); In addition to these findings, out of the single woman interviewed, “65% were at or below 50% of poverty” (Ford,