AnnClarklivedpaychecktopaycheck.Sheworkedfulltime
butbarelyearnedenoughtosupportherselfandherdaughter.Shehadnosavings,noretirement,andnorealprospectsofincreasedearnings.Aco-workerencouragedAnntoreturntoschool.Annhadattendedcollegeforacoupleofyearsbuthadnevercompletedabachelor’sdegree.Anndecidedthatshehadtostopwaitingtobe“rescued”andtakethestepsnecessarytobuildamoresecureandprosperousfutureforherselfandherdaughter. Attendingschoolwhilework-ingandcaringforherdaughterwasstressfulandphysicallyexhausting,butAnnwasabletopiecetogethersupportfromanumberofsourcestomakeitallpossible.Heremployerwasflexibleenoughtoallowhertoattendclassesandprovidedsometuitionreimbursement.Shewasabletogetsomeadditionalfinancialaid,andherfamilyhelpedbytakingcareofherdaughterafterschool.
ThreeyearslaterAnngradu-atedwithherbachelor’sdegree.Annreportsthattheimpactofreturningtoschoolhasbeenenormous.Theincreasedincome,whichmorethandoubled,notonlyallowedAnntoachieveagreaterdegreeoffinancialstability,butpermittedhertobeginaserioussavingsplan. TheimpactofAnn’seducationextendsbeyondherincome,however.Annseesopportunitiesforcareeradvancementbecauseshechosetocompleteabachelor’sdegreeratherthananassociate’sdegree.Annsays,
“Ididn’trealizehowmuchweightabachelor’s[degree]pullsuntilIgotit.” LikeAnnClark,manysinglemothershavelearnedtheexponentialvalueofeducationinhelpingthemmovebeyondthepovertylineandbecomeeconomicallyself-reliant.
backgroundIn2005,theEconomicSelf-RelianceCenter(ESRCenter)atBrighamYoungUniversitypartneredwiththe
SingleMomFoundationofSaltLakeCity,Utah,tocreatetheSingleMomInitiative,amulti-year,multi-disci-plinaryresearcheffortwiththegoalofimprovingknowledgeabouttheuniquechallengesfacingsinglemoth-ersandcreatingbestpracticepolicies. Thefirstphaseoftheinitiative’sresearchagendaconsistedofgather-ingbaselineinformationaboutsinglemothersthroughaliteraturereview,alearninglab,andfocusgroups—allofwhichwereconductedduring2006.Theseinitialactivitiesprovidedabaseforthesecondphase:thedevelop-mentandlaunchofastatewidesurveyofsinglemothers. TheESRCentercontactedSurveySampleInternational(SSI),whichdrewarandomsampleofmorethansixty-fivethousandphonenumbersinUtah.Morethansixtystudentswerehiredtocallandscreenforbothmarriedandsinglemoth-erswithchildrenundertheageofeighteenlivingathome.BetweenMarchandMay2007,97percentof
education a p o w e r f u l a s s e t f o r s i n g l e m o t h e r s
By Richard J. McClendon and Jul ie Humberstone | Photography by Mark A. Phi lbr ick
3� ESr — SPRING 2008
rESEarcH
thephonenumberswerecalledasmanyasseventimesinordertomakeatleastonecontact.Intheend,420singlemotherswerecontactedbyphoneandagreedtotakeasurvey.Fifty-sevenpercentrespondedtothemailsurvey.Thesurveyincludedquestionsaboutbasicinformationaboutpersonal,marital,andfamilydemographics.Itwasalsodesignedtoassesseducation,work,financial,andself-reliancefactors.
significant factors related to the esr of utah single mothersOneoftheprimarypurposesofoursurveywastolearnwhatfactorsleadtogreatereconomicself-reliance(ESR)forsinglemothers.Figure1showstheconceptualpredictorsofESR.ESRisconstructedoffourdif-ferentobservedfactorsorscales:(1)thetotalincomefrom2006,(2)ascorethataddsallassets,(3)amea-sureofhowoftenapersonsavesherincome,and(4)ascalethatassesseshowlongapersoncouldmaintain
hercurrentstandardoflivingwithoutrelyingonacreditcardifshelosthersourceofincome. Thepredictorvariablesinthemodelaremeasuresthatcomefromvariousdimensionsofasinglemother’slife,includingherpersonaldemographics,education,well-being,andfamilyexperiences.Socialscienceresearchhaslongshownthebenefitsofincludingmeasuresfromthesetypesofdimensionswhenpredict-ingeconomic-basedoutcomes.Additionally,severalofthesefactorsrepresentmeasuresofhuman,finan-
cial,andsocialcapital.Learningaboutthetypeandlevelofasso-ciationbetweentheseindependentfactorsandESRiscriticalinhelpingsinglemothers.
WeusedStructuralEquationModeling(SEM),amultipleregres-sionanalysis,totestthefitofourhypothesizedmodelandtofindthestatisticallysignificantindependentfactorsleadingtothedependentvari-able—ESR.SeveralfactorsprovedtohaveasignificantrelationshipwithESR.Forinstance,wefoundthetypeofhousinginwhichasinglemotherliveshasoneofthestrongestasso-ciationswithESR.Singlemotherswhoarerenting(-.39)orlivingwithfamily(-.37)aremuchlesslikelytohavehighratesofESRcomparedto
singlemotherswhoowntheirhome.Anotherfactor,governmentassis-tance,producedacorrelationbetaof-.22,showingthatthemorereliantasinglemotherisongovernment
“�I�didn’t realize�how�much�weight�a�bachelor’s�[degree]�pulls�until�I�got�it.”
—Ann Clark
35
assistancethelowerherESRlevelis.Self-esteem(.19)andsocialsup-portforfindingajob(.33)werealsostrongindicatorsofESR.Motherswithhigherself-esteemscoresorwhohavestrongsocialsupportnetworksforfindingajobscorehighonESR.Naturally,theseresultscomeasnosurprise.However,theseindepen-dentvariablesmaybesomewhatdifficulttoargueasfactorsleadingtoincreasedESReventhoughtheyareshownaspredictorsinourmodel.Thedirectionoftheirrelationshipisunclear;theycouldbe“outcomes”ofhigherESRratherthan“causes.” Thesignificantfactorsinthemodelmorereasonablylabeledas
“predictors”ofESRincludeage(.27),maritalstatus(.21),andeducationlevel(.17).Essentially,thesetellus
thatsinglemotherswhoareolder,whoremarryintostablemarriages,orwhoaremoreeducatedhavesig-nificantlyhigherESRscores.Again,suchfindingsarenosurprise.Itmakessensethatoldermothershaveaddedexperienceandmoretimetobuildtheirincomes,assets,andsav-ingsdiscipline.Also,singlemotherswhoremarryintostablerelationshipsareabletocombinetheirincomeandassetswiththeirnewpartners’toimmediatelyincreasetheirESR.Forsomesinglemothers,however,remarriageintoa“stable”relationshipisnotaviableoption.Instead,return-ingtoschoolformoreeducationisamoreself-actuatingpathtoimprov-ingESR.Giventhateducationisoneofthekeycomponentsofhumancapital,returningtoschoolmaybe
oneofthemostsensibledecisionsasinglemothercanmake,regardlessofwhethersheremarries.
education and utah single mothersWhatdidourstudyrevealabouttheeducationalbackgroundandattitudesofsinglemothersinUtah?Firstofall,thehighschoolgradesofthesemothersarequiteimpressive—99percentofthemothersreceivedeitheranaverageoraboveaverageGPA.Inotherwords,veryfewofthesemoth-erswereacademicfailuresinhighschool.Furthermore,about80per-centhaveobtainedsomepost-second-aryexperience.Ofthosewhohavepursuedfurthereducation,around32percenthavereceivedsomecollegeorskilltraining,25percenthave
Figure 1:�Conceptual�Model�for�Predicting�the�ESR�of�Utah�Single�Moms
Demographics • Age • Race • Religiosity • Job Satisfaction • Community Involvement
Education • Parent’s Education • Education Level • High School Grades • Computer Skills • When Returned to School • Belief When to Return to
School
Well-Being • Physical Health • Overall Happiness • Depression • Self-Esteem • Self-Efficacy/Goal
Family of Procreation • Marital Status • Years as a Single Mom • Number of Children • Child with Disability • Parenting Attitude
& Involvement • Child Custody • Child Support • Government Assistance • Housing • Child(s) Father’s Education &
Well-Being
Family of Orientation • Parent’s Marital Status • Relationship with Parents
& Siblings • Job Support from Family
& Associates
ESR • Total Income • Asset/Debt Index • Savings Practices • Standard of Living • Endurance
3� ESr —SPRING 2008
scoresonthe2006incomescaleforeacheducationallevelcategory.Singlemotherswithahighschooldegreeorlesshaveameanscoreof2.62,whichtranslatesintoanincomeofaboutUS$16,000ayear.Thosewitheithersomecollege/skilltrain-ingoraskills/tradedegreeareat2.92,andthosewithanassociate’sdegreescored3.39,indicatinganannualincomeofUS$19,000andUS$24,000respectively.Singlemotherswithabachelor’sdegreehaveayearlyincomeofapproxi-matelyUS$34,000,andthosewhohaveattainedagraduateorprofes-sionaldegreeearnapproximatelyUS$48,000annually. Takingacloserlookatthepracti-calconsequencesofthesedifferencesclearlyillustrateswhylesseducatedsinglemothersoughttoseriouslyconsidergoingbacktoschoolwiththegoalofnolessthanabachelor’sdegree.The2006U.S.DepartmentofHeathandHumanServicespovertyguidelinesspecifythatthepovertythresholdforahouseholdofthreeisUS$16,000.3Thismeansthatasinglemotherwithtwochildren,which
completedaskillorassociate’sdegree,and23percenthaveattainedabachelor’sdegreeorhigher. HalfofUtahsinglemothershavegonebacktoschoolsincebecomingasinglemotherand28percentarecur-rentlyattending.Amajorityofthesemothers(57percent)attendorhaveattendedschoolparttime,attendnightschool,ortakeonlinecourses.Ninepercentalternatebetweenfulltimeandparttimeorbetweendayandnight.Only32percentactuallyattendorhaveattendedclassesfulltimeduringtheday. Notsurprisingly,thetopreasonwhysinglemotherswentbacktoschoolwasbecausetheyneededtoincrease their income(64percent).Theyrankedpersonal improvement(56percent)assecond.Theyalsoindicatedthattheirfamily(39percent)and self(34percent)moti-vatedthemtogobacktoschoolafterbecomingasinglemother.Theaver-agetimeittakesforasinglemothertogobacktoschoolafterbecomingsingleisalmostthreeyears. Therewasnoclearanswerfromthesurveyaboutthebesttimetoreturntoschool.Thetopresponse,
“immediatelyuponbecomingasinglemom,”waschosenbyonly16percent.Otheranswerswerelessspe-cific,indicatingthattherighttiming
“dependsoncircumstancesorsitua-tion”or“whenit’sbestforthemom.”Whenitcomestothebesttimingfortheirchildren,thetopcategorychosenwas“whilechildrenareinelementaryschool”(36percent).
influence of education on utah single mothersLet’snowtakeacloserlookatthereal-worldimpactofeducationonthelivesofsinglemothers.Previousstudiesshoweducationtobesignifi-cantlycorrelatedwithanumberof
socioeconomicfactorsforwomen,especiallysinglemothersintheUnitedStates.Forexample,awoman,regardlessofmaritalstatus,withahighschooldiplomaorGEDwhoearnsabachelor’sdegreeincreasesheryearlysalarybyanaverageof76per-cent.1Inanextensiveliteraturereviewoneducation’sinfluenceonwomenandsinglemothers,MinZhanandShantaPandeyfoundseveralstud-iesconfirmingthatpost-second-aryeducationpositivelyaffectstheeconomicwell-beingofwomenandsinglemothersregardlessofwhethertheyobtainitbeforeorafterbecom-ingasinglemother.2Theyalsoreportthatsingleordivorcedwomenwithabachelor’sdegreeearnmoremoneythanthosewithlesseducation,andtheyhaveaneasiertimefindingajobthatpayswell.Additionally,womenwithhighereducationlevelsaremorefinanciallysuccessfulaftergoingoffwelfare,andthosewithacollegedegreearemuchlesslikelytofallbackonwelfare. Ourownresearchconfirmedthefindingsofsomeofthesepreviousstudies.Figure2showsthemean
Figure 2:�Education�and�Total�Income�(2006)
Total Income (N)
High School Degree or Less
2.62** (37)
Some College/Skills Training or
Skills/Trade Degree
2.92** (97)
Associate’s Degree3.39* (23)
Bachelor’s Degree4.45 (31)
Graduate or Professional Degree
5.85* (13)
1. Under $10,000
2. $10,000 to $19,999
3. $20,000 to $29,999
4. $30,000 to $39,999
5. $40,000 to $49,999
6. $50,000 to 74,999
7. $75,000 to $99,999
8. Over $100,000
37
research
represents76percentofsinglemoth-ersinUtah,hastohaveanincomehigherthanUS$16,000tobeabovethepovertyline.LookingatFigure2,wecanseethateverymotherwithtwochildrenandonlyahighschooleducationfallsbelowthisline. Afurtherlookatthoseinthenexttwocategories,somecollege/skillstrainingoranassociate’sdegree,showsthateventhoughtheysitabovethepovertyline,theyarestillbelowanotherkeyindicatorknownastheUtahself-sufficiencystandardpre-scribedbyDianaPearceandJenniferBrooks.4Theself-sufficiencystandardmeasureshowmuchincomeisneededforafamilytomeetitsbasicneedswithoutprivateorpublicassistance.Forasingle-parentfamilywithtwochildren,theaverageannualincomerequiredtobeself-sufficientinUtahisUS$30,532.Accordingly,it’snotuntilasinglemothergetstothelevelofabachelor’sdegreeorhigherthatshegainsenoughincometobufferher
familyagainstpovertyandattainaself-sufficientlifestyle.SinglemothersinUtahwithabachelor’sdegreeearnonaverageUS$34,000ayear.Thistranslatesnotonlyintheabilitytoriseabovethepovertylinebutalsotoachieveself-sufficiencyandbeyond.Duringthecourseoftenyears,abachelor’sdegreecanaddanextraUS$150,000toanincomecom-paredtoahighschooldegree.Suchadditionalincomecangofartowardmortgagepayments,childcare,trans-portation,andinvestments.
perceived barriers against more educationAsindicatedabove,thereisampleevidencethatoneofthewisestdeci-sionsalow-incomesinglemothercanmaketosecuregreaterESRistoattainmoreeducation,preferablyabachelor’sdegree.Yet,decidingtogobacktoschoolmayprovefrightening,especiallywhenconsideringseveralcommonlyperceivedbarriers.We
callthem“perceived”becausemostarelesssignificantandmoreeasilyovercomethanmanysinglemothersmightbelieve.Bysayingthisweinnowayminimizethechallengesthesebarrierspose,butaswewillshowfromourresearch,theymaynotbeasinsurmountableastheyappear. Weaskedmothersinoursurveywhohavenotreturnedtoschooltoindicatethetopbarrierskeepingthemfromgoingbacktoschool.Theylistedlackofmoney,lackoftime,children’sneeds,andfear.Moneyisofcoursetheparadoxbehindwhysinglemothersneedtogobacktoschoolinthefirstplace.LikeAnnClark,manyofthemlivefrompaychecktopaycheckhopingthatsomehowtheywillberescued.Unfortunately,thisisoftennotthecase.Manysinglemothersmaybeunawarethatthereareavarietyoffinancialresourcesavailabletohelpthemattendschoolandmaintaintheirfinancialobligationssimultane-
38 ESr —SPRING 2008
ously.Inadditiontofederalandstateaid,manycollegesanduniversitiessponsorscholarshipsforsinglepar-
ents.Infact,themajorityofcollegesanduniversitiesinUtahofferscholar-shipsthatarespecificallygearedforsingleparentsorgivepreferencetosingleparentapplicants. “Lackoftime”and“children’sneeds”aretwoothertopbarrierspreventingmothersfrompursuingmoreeducation.Theseconcernsareconfirmedbypreviousresearchfind-ings.Inourfocusgroupsweweresurprisedtolearnthatonesinglemother’sdaystartsat6a.m.andendsat2a.m.Whenaskedhowmuchofthattimesheisabletospendwithherchild,sheresponded,“Maybewecansqueezeintwohours.”Othermothersagreed,explainingthattheirtypicaldayoftenstartedaround6a.m.withlittletimeavailablefortheirkids.Betweencommuting,working,andschooling,thesemotherswereluckytobehomeby6p.m.or7p.m.,leavingaboutonehourbeforetheirchildren’sbedtime.Afterhouseclean-ing,homework,etc.,theyhavelittletimeleftforthemselvesbeforeretiring. Itmayseemthatbygoingbacktoschool,timewillbeevenmorelimited,especiallywiththeirchildren.Butourresearchshowsotherwise.Wefoundthatsinglemotherswhowentbacktoschoolactuallyreportedthesameleveloftimewiththeirchildren,thesamelevelofparentalsatisfaction,andthesamelevelofchildsatisfac-tionasthosewhodidnotreturntoschool.Theymayhavetoshifttheirtimeawayfromotheractivitiesforawhile,butwefoundthattheysuc-
about the authors
Richard J. McClendon is research
director at the BYU Economic
Self-Reliance center. he earned a
Phd in sociology at Brigham Young
University. he has extensive experi-
ence in research surrounding family
studies, development, and religiosity.
Julie Humberstone is director of
the Single mom Initiative at the BYU
Economic Self-Reliance center. She
earned her mPa from the marriott
School of management. She has
worked with both international and
domestic nonprofit organizations.
She teaches classes and conducts
research related to improving the
lives of single moms.
cessfullyavoidtakingawayfromtheirchildren’stime.Sowebelievethelong-termrewardsfaroutweighthe
initialsacrificesandchallenges. Anotherbarrierexpressedbysinglemotherswasfear.Perhapsoneofthemostcommonfearsofthesemothersisthattheyareacademicallyunqualifiedordonothavetherightskillstobesuccessful.Onpaper,ourassessmentoftheseconcernsprovesthefeartobemoreperceivedthanreal.WefoundthatthehighschoolgradesofUtahsinglemotherswithonlyahighschooldegreeorlessweremostlyBsandCs,certainlyhighenoughtoqualifyforpost-secondaryinstitutions.Secondly,thesehigh-school-levelmothersaveragedthesamelevelincomputerskillsastheirbachelordegreecounterparts.Ofthe80percentwhoownacomputer,82percentratethemselvesasatleastgoodinusingawordprocessor,87percentinemailing,and85percentinusingtheinternet.Inotherwords,manyofthemaresavvy,hard-workingwomenwho,ifgivenachanceandsomeencouragement,havetheskillsto“makethegrade”incollegelife.
conclusionSincethe1970s,female-headedhouseholdshavesignificantlyincreasedacrosstheUnitedStates,includingUtah.Thereisnoevidencetosuggestthatthistrendwillchangeanytimesoon.Therefore,itisimpera-tivethatscholarsandpractitionersworktogethertoassessthistypeoffamilystructureandtolearnhowsinglemothersnegotiatetheirday-to-daylives.Althoughfurtherresearch
isnecessary,initialfindingsfromourstudyshowthattheeducationallevelofasinglemotherisapowerful
humancapitaltraitthatsignif-icantlyimpactshereconomicself-reliance.Whiletheremaybelegitimatebarriersdiscour-agingsinglemothersfromreturningtoschoolformore
education,ourfindingssuggestthatthebenefits,bothforherandherchildren,arewellworththesacrifices.
Endnotes1 “StatisticalAbstractoftheUnitedStates:
2007,”U.S.CensusBureau,http://www.census.gov/prod/2006pubs/07statab/educ.pdf(accessed12December2007).
2MinZhanandShantaPandey,“EconomicWell-BeingofSingleMothers:WorkFirstorPost-SecondaryEducation?”Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare21,no.3(2004):87–112.
3“The2006HHSPovertyGuidelines,”UnitedStatesDepartmentofHealthandHumanServices,http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/06poverty.shtml(accessedDecember12,2007).
4DianaPearceandJenniferBrooks,“TheSelf-SufficiencyStandardforUtah,”DianaPearceandWiderOpportunitiesforWomen,http://www.utahchildren.net/pdf_files/UT_SSS.pdf(accessedDecember12,2007).
Returning�to�school�is�a�more�self-actuating�path�to�improving economic�self-reliance.
39
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