Critiques of Single Mother Readings Essay

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Mother Readings: Summary/Critique

In these readings, the role of single-motherhood and other nontraditional family models are examined for their role in the intergenerational perpetuation of poverty, especially in light of current United States assistance and taxation policy regarding children of single mothers and general family assistance. Garfinkel et al. (1998) trace the development of current perceptions of single-mother families and other non-traditional family arrangements to the social stigmas and resultant policies of the decades following World War II, during which time a noticeable shift in recipients of family assistance occurred, moving away from widows and towards divorcees and women who had never been married. Much of their case about the social dogma that appears to be behind policy is made from an interpretation of divorce proceedings of the 1960s and 70s. The authors see a strong correlation in the eradication of a gender preference in custody matters to the level of private support available, and the wide variation of judgments made in this latter regard reveal the level of discretion used by judges on each case (Garfinkel et al. 1998).

In an earlier paper, Garfinkel and McLanahan (1986) focused more specifically on government assistance for single-mother families, especially noting the dramatic rise in emphasis on work requirements during the years preceding publication. The authors also contend that issues of support were exacerbated by the rise in unemployment rates caused by macroeconomic policies in the Reagan era, but agree with the administration's encouragement of the independence of single mothers (i.e. regular employment that provides adequate income) (Garfinkel and McLanahan 1986).

The remaining studies in these readings detail two other specific indicators of intergenerational poverty. Parke (2003) uses a detailed historical analysis to come to a pro-marriage conclusion, citing a wide array of statistics to back up his assertion that children coming from families in which the biological parents are married and cohabiting are less likely to fall below the poverty line themselves.

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They also achieve higher levels of education on average, and other indicators of success are likewise more prevalent amongst such children than in those reared in single-mother or other non-traditional families (Parke 2003). Schiller (2008) sees a close relationship between poverty levels and family size, especially in creating/perpetuating intergenerational poverty. He does acknowledge that the issue does not have a clear causality -- that is, large families and poverty have a sort of chicken-and-egg relationship, and it is unclear which is a predictor for the other. Ultimately, it appears as though large family size is correlated to the continuation and worsening of poverty, even across generational lines, but it has little effect of actually bring families into poverty (Schiller 2008).

Critique

As in many of the other readings, the studies here are too reductionist in their approach and analyses of the issue at hand. Though perhaps including a wide variety of economic and other figures, as in the case of Garfinkel et al. (1998) and Garfinkel and McLanahan (1986), the extensive real word complications of single motherhood are given short shrift, if they are covered at all. Economic considerations and other factors that can be boiled down to numbers and statistics only provide half of the necessary information in such cases, and less quantitative social elements need careful consideration before further policy change is implemented.

The apparent naivete exhibited by some of the authors is disingenuous at best, and in….....

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