Single Motherhood Sociology

Most people have heard the proverbial saying, “It takes a village to raise a child” (unknown author). If this is the case, then how are today’s single working mothers managing to raise their children when statistics show that they are far from having the support of a village helping them out? Once largely limited to poor women and minorities, single motherhood is now becoming the new “norm”. This prevalence is due in part to the growing trend of children being born outside of marriage—a societal trend that was virtually unheard of decades ago (Dawn, 2017). Of all single-parent families in the U.S., single mothers make up the majority. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, out of approximately 12 million single parent families in 2015, single …show more content…
Although mothers' roles have expanded to include breadwinning responsibilities and fathers' to include nurturance and involvement with children, each gender remains most accountable for traditional parenting roles (Milkie, M. A. et al, 2004). Because of the pervasive ideology of separate spheres, employers may discriminate against mothers in hiring, promotion, and compensation decisions. After an extensive study by sociologists Shelley J. Correll, Stephen Benard, and In Paik at Cornell University, investigating a phenomenon known as the “motherhood penalty,” their research showed that mothers do suffer a substantial wage penalty and that employed mothers in the United States suffer a per-child wage penalty of approximately 5% on average (2007). Further results of their study stated that, “We propose that this perceived tension between incompatible cultural understandings or schemas leads evaluators, perhaps unconsciously, to expect mothers to be less competent and less committed to their jobs (Blair-Loy, 2003; Ridgeway and Correll, 2004). To the extent that mothers are believed to be less committed to the workplace, we argue that employers will subtly discriminate against mothers when making evaluations that affect hiring, promotion, and salary decisions” (Correll, Shelley J., Benard, Stephen, and Paik, In, 2007). Being stereotyped and penalized for …show more content…
Simply put U.S. work and family policies have not been updated to reflect the new reality of American family life (Waldfogel and McLanahan, 2011). Some of the options available to single mothers in order to try to balance their schedules are flextime, part-time schedules, compressed workweeks, job shares, or opting out of more demanding professional careers to jobs less prestigious, but allows for more time flexibility. These are viable options to single mothers, however, as one studies demonstrates, “Despite the increased availability of flexible work arrangements on the books of many American employers, there is a perplexing underutilization of these arrangements on the part of American workers in light of their strong desire and desperate need for such flexibility” (Williams, Blair-Loy, and Berdahl, 2013 pg. 228). This is because of the stigma assigned to those needing these arrangements. Workers fear that if utilize these options they will be thought of as not measuring up to the “ideal worker” cultural scheme. Although the markets and the government institutions are changing their policies and perspectives at a snail’s pace regarding the work-life balance of individuals in today’s work environment, more public promotion and awareness of encouraging studies such as one conducted by sociologist Phyllis Moen will hopefully help quicken the pace of change for single