What Do You Get for the Mother Who Doesn't Have Everything?

by Lauren Seemeyer

With Mother’s Day around the corner, it’s hard to turn on the TV, walk into a store, or surf the internet without hearing just how to “let Mom know she is really special this Mother’s Day.”  We are bombarded with images of pink roses, gold necklaces and smiling women, but have you ever stopped to think which mothers these ads are featuring?

For the 5.2 million mothers living in poverty (that’s less than $15,735 a year for a family of three), a bunch of flowers or box of chocolates won’t begin to cut it.  There’s no greeting card that will whisk away the worry of choosing between putting a nutritious meal on the table or keeping the lights on.

So what about the moms who are struggling to make ends meet?  What do they really need this Mother’s Day?

An increase in the minimum wage could mean an extra $4,000 a year for mothers trying to support a family on $5.15 an hour. Increased funding for child care assistance could help low-income mothers get the child care they need to succeed on the job and children get the early learning experiences they need to succeed in school. Providing workers with seven days of paid sick leave would help mothers now forced to choose between caring for a sick child and the job they need to make ends meet.  Expanding health insurance coverage for parents and children could help families access the medical care they need. Restoring funds for child support enforcement could help struggling single mothers collect the child support they’re due.

You can’t buy these items at your local convenience store or order them on-line.  But you can help make them a reality. Mother’s Day is a celebration of all mothers.  Clearly these Moms need, and deserve, a little more.

Comments

[Kay Dennison]

I'm glad you understand what I said -- most people don't. The whole system is a farce! It isn't designed to get people out of the system -- it's designed to keep them there.

[sahara]

It ALL needs to increase. Why should you lose your benefits, simply because you get a raise? I know the perception still is, that you get married to a man with money who will take care of you. But the reality is, no one wants a poor girl, cause guys think you're a drain on them; and that's not your fault.

Update the values, and maybe the rest will follow. But then, look who's in charge.

[Lauren Seemeyer]

Thank you for your comment, Kay. Yes, there isn’t a simple, easy solution. Raising the minimum wage will make work pay better, but even $7.25 an hour isn’t enough to support a family. We need to make sure that programs designed to support poor families don’t penalize them just when they start to move ahead. In addition to the housing and food subsidies you mentioned, we’ve interviewed parents who had to turn down raises because it would put them over the income cutoff for child care assistance. And then there’s health care! We need to work on a lot of fronts—and make sure the tools we use to make families more economically secure work together.

[Kay Dennison]

This is a good idea. Unfortunately,
an increase in minimum wage would reduce that mother's Section 8 subsidy for her rent and reduce her food stamps so it wouldn't change a thing for her. Minimum wage was just increased in Ohio in January and that's what happened here. And the increase has cost some people their jobs in addition to pushing prices up. There are no easy solutions to this. What looks good on paper can have nasty ramifications.

[naomi dagen bloom]

Yes! found you through Women's Voices for Change...added link to my not-your-usual mom-day post.
thanks! yours, naomi