Research Approach
As a research-driven grant-maker, the Eleanor Foundation invests our resources in studies that inform our investments, as well as in others' efforts to advance working women and their families.
Gary Orfield, Ph.D.
Gary Orfield is a nationally renowned civil rights scholar whose work has helped facilitate a sea change in U.S. education policy. Currently, he is Director of the Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles, a multidisciplinary research and policy think tank, at the University of California, Los Angeles. Gary's work has been quoted in leading national media including the Chicago Tribune, National Public Radio, New York Times, The Economist and The Washington Post.
A Surprising Picture
Working Mothers: A National Portrait
July 15, 2009
More than 10 million women in the US are single, working mothers, responsible for raising a very large proportion of the children who make up America's next generation. But the children of those women who lack adequate resources or support likely face severe barriers to success. The Eleanor Foundation's national research, conducted by Dr. Gary Orfield, examines the broad trends impacting single working mothers in the nation's 10 largest metropolitan areas. It explores the importance of single mothers to the economic fabric of the neighborhoods and communities in which they live. And it offers suggestions for public policymaking that would enhance the lives of their children and of the communities in which they live.
Working Mothers: Who They Are
Of the more than 10 million working mothers in the US, 9 million earn less than $40,000 a year. They include women who are widowed, divorced, separated and never married. Fewer than 3% of this population are teenage mothers. Though a diverse group racially, they are predominantly white: of those female heads of households with children under 18, 4 million are white, 2.64 million are black, and 1.7 million are Latina.
In Our Communities: Where They Live
The largest concentration of single mothers in the US lives in the suburbs. According to the 2000 US Census, 4.3 million single mother-led households live in suburbs versus 3.9 million households in central cities, with the remaining 1.8 million living in small cities, towns and rural areas. The racial and ethnic distribution of female-headed households varies across the 10 largest metropolitan areas: of the female-headed households in Detroit and Washington D.C., more than 50% are black; in Boston, more than 50% of these mothers are white.
Where these women live has a significant, measurable impact on their economic well-being. Across all ten of the largest metropolitan areas in the US, most poor white single mothers live in communities with low poverty rates - that is, with fewer than 10% of neighbors living below the poverty line. Minority single mothers, however, tend to live in areas with higher poverty rates, areas that typically offer only limited access to well-paying jobs, good schools, transportation and other resources.
Education
In the US generally, economic success depends more than ever on post-secondary education. The median 2005 household income for high-school dropouts who were single mothers was $24,700; for high school graduates, it rose to $38,200, and for college graduates, the income was nearly triple that for high school dropouts, at $72,400.
While single mothers tend to have relatively low levels of education, the patterns of educational achievement differ markedly by race and place. In all US cities, the high school dropout rate is highest for Latina single mothers, and the rate is substantially higher than that among either black or white single mothers, reaching a peak of 62% in Los Angeles, 61% in Dallas and 56% in Houston. In Chicago, the high school dropout rate for Latina single mothers was four times that for whites and nearly twice that for blacks.
The consequences of dropping out are severe. As a corollary to their lower income, less educated women spend a greater percentage of that income on housing, leaving less money for other necessities. Few women with a college degree are so burdened by housing costs.
Employment
US Census data shows that full-time employment lowers the odds of poverty and financial strain; nevertheless, a significant portion of full-time workers live in poverty. Despite the fact that many single mothers in this population are therefore in challenging financial circumstances, the great majority of them - over 95% - receive no public assistance.
In the largest metropolitan areas, black and Latina women are more likely to obtain full-time work if they live in the suburbs, though there is little difference for white single mothers. White women are more likely to find work in all metropolitan areas, in part related to education but also because of where they live. The range of white mothers who are employed ranges between 74% in Boston and 83% in Dallas. Rates for black women are markedly lower, ranging from 57.7% in Chicago and Los Angeles to 67.5% in Houston. Latina rates fall even further: they range from a low of 48.4% in New York City to 69.2% in Washington D.C. and San Francisco.
Housing
Owning a home correlates to family stability and higher income, and can furthermore provide access to many neighborhoods and schools. Among whites, Chicago has the highest homeownership rates at 60.7%; Los Angeles has the lowest at 40%. For blacks, the homeownership rates range from 15.4% in Boston to 36.5% in Philadelphia. Among Latinos, homeownership rates range from a low of 8.5% in Boston to 37.2% in Houston.
Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies reported that more than a fourth of all single-parent households pay more than half their income for minimally adequate housing. Such households spend 32% less on food, 56% less on clothes and 79% less on healthcare for their families than do other households in that population. Cheaper housing also means living further from jobs and other essential destinations, driving up transportation costs by as much as three times. Families face eviction, involuntary moves, and disruption in their children's education due to lack of affordable and adequate housing.
Policy Recommendations
The national research commissioned by the Eleanor Foundation—along with other Foundation-sponsored research—together point to one overriding fact. Existing strategies to stem the economic slide of single working mothers do not work as well as intended. And this failure occurs in part because of the failure of policymakers to address the unique challenges faced by this population of women, who must be both breadwinner and the primary caregiver for their families.
According to Dr. Orfield, effective policy reforms must begin with offering and promoting access to education and training that in turn lead to employment that pays a livable wage. Additional supports are critical to enabling single working mothers to take advantage of educational opportunities, including:
- Safe and affordable childcare that is responsive to their demanding schedules
- Access to affordable housing, including rental supports, ideally outside of high poverty areas that offer limited resources and opportunities
- Revisions to the federal Earned Income Tax Credit that remove disincentives for increasing income
Dr. Orfield further emphasizes in his report the importance of policy solutions that are sustainable, mutually supportive, and equitably distributed across racial and ethnic lines. It is the mission of the Eleanor Foundation to support working single mothers, and we view this research as an instrument to educating and influencing policymakers to address these needs.
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