For instance, children growing up with only one parent are more likely to drop out of school, bear children out of wedlock, and have trouble keeping jobs as young adults. Other consequences include risks to psychological development, social behavior, and sex-role identification. Confounding variables, such as income and social class, explain a large portion of the negative findings. Poverty Mother-only families are more likely to be poor because of the lower earning capacity of women, inadequate public assistance and child care subsidies, and lack of enforced child support from nonresidential fathers. However, the number of children per family unit is generally comparable, approximately two per household.
Child Care Costs One of the major expenditures of single parents is child care.
On average, a poor mother spends 32 percent of her total weekly income on child care. This percentage nearly doubles when more than one child needs care. Poor, single, working parents often are forced to choose between quality and flexibility of child care arrangements. For many single parents, this may mean using less well-trained or experienced child care providers who are working long hours or supervising too many children. Approximately 53 percent of single mothers are not in the work force because they are unable to find affordable, quality, child care.