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Help for Single Parents in the Work Force

Single parents in the work force make up nearly eleven percent of the total working population. In addition, it is estimated that nearly seventy-nine percent of mothers with school-age children work outside the home. Also, nearly twenty-seven percent of all children come from single parent homes. The needs of single parents in the work force are not the same as the needs of parents in a two-parent family, and progress is being made to address those special needs.

For example, it is estimated that seventy-seven percent of all single mothers work outside the home. For these mothers, childcare is a necessity if they have young children. To address this need, many states offer subsidized childcare. These programs assist single parents in the work force pay for their childcare fees, sometimes on a sliding scale. Information about childcare subsidies can usually be found at your local Department of Social Services.

In addition, since the average salary of these single parents in the work force is only around $26,000.00 per year, health care can become an issue. To address this need the Balance Budget Act of 1997 created the States' Children's Health Insurance Program. This program provides affordable, sometimes even no cost, health insurance for all children up through the age of nineteen.

Other government programs designed to help single parents in the workforce include LEAP (Low Income Energy Assistance Program) and WIC (Women, Infants, and Children Program.) LEAP provides monetary assistance to help pay your heating bills during the winter months, and WIC provides a variety of basic foods necessary to ensure the proper growth and good health of pregnant women, infants, and children. Information about both of these programs can be found at your local Department of Social Services.

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