Washington, D.C. — Over the past five decades, family structures in the United States have changed, and lawmakers cannot ignore the prevalence and experiences of single-mother families. In 2023, there were 7.3 million single mothers, making up more than 4 in 5 single parents. In 2023, almost 16 million children under the age of 18 were living with single mothers.
A new report from the Center for American Progress shines a light on single mothers’ economic status and the unnecessary poverty they face, and asserts that marriage or staying married is not an economic solution. This analysis reveals that:
- Single mothers’ median annual income is $17,000 less than single fathers: 75 percent of single mothers are working and most are working full time. In 2022, those working full time had a median annual income of $40,000, whereas single fathers had a median income of $57,000 per year. Breaking this down even further, Black single mothers’ median annual income was $38,000, and Hispanic single mothers’ annual income was $34,000.
- Single mothers are more likely to live in poverty: In 2022, single mothers had a poverty rate of 28 percent. On the flip side, this rate was nearly cut in half for single fathers at 15 percent. For married couples, the poverty rate was only 5 percent.
- Single mothers made up 4 in 5 single parents in 2023: Single mothers are mostly in their 30s to 40s and don’t have a college degree, and about half have never been married. They are also more likely to be Black than mothers overall.
The report also recommends a pivotal set of policy solutions that would combat poverty and prioritize the needs of single mothers. These recommendations include urging policymakers to expand the Child Tax Credit, reform Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, raise the minimum wage, advance policies to promote equal pay, pass universal paid family and medical leave, and build affordable and accessible child care.
Project 2025, a far-right authoritarian playbook, proposes repealing policies focusing on LGBTQ+ equality or “subsidizing single-motherhood” and replacing them with policies that encourage the formation of “married, nuclear families” that are narrowly and heterosexually defined. This CAP report examines why this is an out-of-touch view and argues that marriage is not a logical economic solution to poverty.
“The increased prevalence of single motherhood over time correlates with increased participation of women in the labor force, evolving cultural norms on marriage and family, and trends in economic disparities that influence marriage and childbearing,” said Isabela Salas-Betsch, research associate for the Women’s Initiative at CAP and author of the report. “A policy platform such as Project 2025 denies these trends in pursuit of a narrow, conservative view of what a family should be. Urging women to get married or stay married is not a logical economic solution to building economic security for single moms and their children. Instead, we need bold, progressive policy solutions.”
Read the report: “The Economic Status of Single Mothers” by Isabela Salas-Betsch
For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact Jasmine Razeghi at [email protected].