Socioeconomic Class, And The Normalization Of Single Parenting

Throughout the last decades of history, the traditional family structure held to dearly by the United States has begun to crumble. The increase in divorce rates, poverty, and the normalization of single parenthood has begun to cause a shift in the nuclear family style. Single parents, both male and female alike, have risen highly since the early 60’s. As shown by a plethora of authors and contributors such as Stephanie Mencimer, Lisa Belkin, and Jeff Grabmeier, the thoughts and views behind single parenthood as aren’t cut and dry as society may think. Gender, socioeconomic class, and even social stigma must be combined with one’s own narrative to form a proper stance on the topic. This paper will look at the voices of multiple writers in a

As a woman, in order to make her point unbiased and vividly clear, she utilizes the story an actual single father named William McCloskey. His essay, titled “Adventures In (Single Male) Parenting”, depicts his personal experiences and views of living as a single dad in today’s world. The most notable point of his essay was his view on the triviality a parent’s sex plays into raising their child. He states there should be less distinction between single mothers and fathers, and more on the children who are directly affected. With that said, he begins to delve into his personal experiences of inequality in terms of parenting. For starters, he begins his essay by describing what exactly society thinks of when we hear the words “single father”. To do so, he utilizes imagery to set the scene of a klutz in an “apron spooning scorched macaroni-and-cheese into a soup bowl for an ill-dressed tot with a bad haircut while the school bus beeps at the curb” in the minds of the readers. After describing society’s stereotypical view of single fathers, McCloskey proceeds to begin to delve into his early experiences as a male single parent. Whenever he attended parent teacher meetings or the playgrounds, he’d feel as though he was an “object of pity and curiosity” for the women who gracefully tended to their children as

Women are less likely to be hired in comparison to their male counterparts; a simple fact which has been consistently observed for decades. In addition, single mothers have an even lower chance of being hired when applying against young childless women and men. The wage gap places a heavier burden when seated upon women with children, as they must pay for the needs of their dependents in combination with their own. My personal experiences holds such ideas to be true, as my family has directly experienced this unfortunate circumstance. The only jobs available for my mother, whom was rising three children, were typical pink-collar clerical jobs. The only positions available for a middle-aged single mother of three was secretary positions in which she must sit at a desk and enter in numbers for the entire shift. Delving into debt in order to receive a degree in medical billing proved beneficial, as she was able to broaden her spectrum of possible job opportunities. Males, on the other hand, are unaffected by the wage gap and gender-typed job limitations simply because of their sex. Jobs would much rather hire a childless male whose efforts can be put solely into this work, over a single mother whose primary concern is the wellbeing of her