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Essay Subject: Examines effects of lower-income single-parent mothers on their children's educational achievements, focusing on Aid to Families with Dependent Children.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Examines effects of lower-income single-parent mothers on their children's educational achievements, focusing on Aid to Families with Dependent Children. Paper Introduction: The topic of this presentation is the effects of lower-income single-parent mothers on their children’s educational achievements, with the focus on AFDC families. Before discussing the effects of the single-parent family structure on the children, it is important to have a general profile of an AFDC family. Therefore, the class will have a clear picture of the impact of the family on its children’s educational achievements. AFDC, which stands for Aid to Families with Dependent Children, is a subsidy that is almost entirely devoted to single mothers. In 1983 (the latest official statistics available), single mothers constituted 75 percent of all AFDC mothers. In this group of single mothers, 45 percent are divorced or separated, while 30 percent had babies out of wedlock (Popenoe, Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. AFDC, which stands for Aid to Families with Dependent Children, is asubsidy that is almost entirely devoted to single mothers. 147-15 ). Welfare's new rules: A pox on children. The Economist, 329(7841), 27-29. News & World Report, 1 2, 66-68.McLanahan, S., & Sandefur, G. For the toddlers andpre-schoolers, the mothers cannot send them to childhood education programsto stimulate their intellectual development (Duncan & Brooks-Gunn, 1997, p.71). These results indicated that children from one-parent families weremore likely to leave school before completion and do worse in school thantheir counterparts from two-parent families. They found that the likelihood of poverty forsingle parents without a high school education was 28 percentage pointsmore than those with college education (1994, p. In his article,William Bennett sums the situation up succinctly: "We have come to thepoint in America where we are asking prisons to do for many young boys whatfathers used to do" (1995, p. 85). In this group of single mothers, 45 percentare divorced or separated, while 3 percent had babies out of wedlock(Popenoe, 1996, p. These problems donot belong only to the families involved, but also to the society.Therefore, it is vital for everyone in the community, including theindividual families, schools, community organizations, and governments tocome together to address the problems, before they spiral out of control.Already, America is witnessing the consequences of generations of childrenraised in hardship in single-parent families. Using the estimates from the NationalLongitudinal Survey, they found that the percentage points of the childrencompleting high school education from two-parent families surpassed thoseof the children from 1-parent families by 19 points (1994, p. First, the government should help all unemployed wage-earnersfind jobs (McLanahan and Sandefur, 1994, p. J., & Brooks-Gunn, J. Society, 33(5), 25-28.Turner, J., Barbaro, G., & Schlank, M. 33). Therefore, mostchildren living in single-mother AFDC families were living in poverty. ReferencesBennett, W. In astudy of 241 single black mothers and their adolescents, it was found thatmany of the mothers suffered from depression. 26).The rest of the young people will not receive sufficient education for themto get a good job. In a study examiningmultigeneration welfare use, 2 percent of daughters growing up in AFDChomes ended up on welfare themselves, while only 3 percent of daughtersgrowing up in non-AFDC homes were on welfare (Duncan, Hill, & Hoffman,1988, p. The lack of income in the family also lowers the motivation of thechildren to study because they know that they cannot afford to go tocollege. For example, in the test scores that ranked childrenfrom the first to the fourth quartile, children from two-parent familiesreceived a score of 2.62 and children from one-parent families 2.51 (1994,pp. In theseneighborhoods, the role models for these children are often unemployedadults, criminals and juvenile delinquents. The burgeoning educational underclass. In the light of these problems, comprehensive policies that addressthe difficulties of poor families and their children need to beimplemented. J., Hill, M. Single mothers are also saddled with many responsibilities, thus lesstime is devoted to reading to the children and helping with their homework(1994, p. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Popenoe, D. 151). The children's pooreducational performances are their warning cry for the adults to act beforeit is too late. For boys,they have to deal with the absence of an important role model (McLanahan &Sandefur, 1994, p. 47 ). In conclusion, this presentation illustrates the severity of theeffects of a low-income single-mother household on the children'seducational achievements. 12). 26). 56). Furthermore, AFDC recipients are expected to undergomandatory participation in job training that amounts to at least 2 hours aweek, thus taking time away from the families (Turner, Barbaro, & Schlank,199 , p. What to do about the children. 468). Inaddition, the National Longitudinal Survey of Young Men and Women (NLSY)showed that the dropout rate for children from one-parent families was 29%,while the dropout rate for the children from two-parent families was 13percent (1994, p. D. Women who receive AFDC feel hopeless abouttheir future because they do not feel they have any control over theirlives (Duncan, Hill, & Hoffman, 1988, p. 471). The absence of the father also affectsyoung girls. McLanahan and Sandefur also offered a comprehensive list of thecauses for the poor educational achievements of the children. J. For singlemothers to work, a child-care program should be set up to so that thechildren will be taken of care in a safe and stimulating environment(McLanahan and Sandefur, 1994, p. Issues in Science and Techology, 14(2), 67-73.Duncan, G. According to David Popenoe, who provided thestatistic in this article, more recent data from the government wouldprobably reveal a higher percentage of mothers with out of wedlock children(Popenoe, 1996, p. By doing so, they help workingparents by ensuring that the children are not only safe, but also engagingin educational activities. Commentary, 99(3), 23-29.Bower, B. S., & Hoffman, S. Growing up with a single parent: What hurts, what helps. Furthermore, to survive in thesetough neighborhoods, the children are taught at a young age to beaggressive and intimidate other people-a behavior that is not helpful forperforming well in school (Bower, 1994, p. (1996, July-August). U.S. 33). 71). 152-153). The long-term social effects of the poor educational performance ofthese students are frightening. The pool of uneducated people will be detrimental to theprogress of society as a whole. They have no time to supervise the children andno money to buy learning-oriented toys (Duncan & Brooks-Gunn, 1997, p. These depressed mothersdisciplined their children by yelling and hitting their children (Bower,1994, p. Child allowances should also begiven to poor families with children to ease their burden (McLanahan andSandefur, 1994, p. Science, 239(4839), 467-472.Horn, M. Without the financial support of their absentee fathers, it isalmost impossible for them to achieve this goal, thus decreasing theirincentives to excel in school (McLanahan & Sandefur, 1994, pp. (1988, January 29). Inreality, children from low-income single mother families live in poorneighborhoods and go to low-quality schools (Bennett, 1995, p. Programs, like Head Start, shouldbe increased for helping families in need to have a good child care program(Turner, Barbaro, & Schlank, 199 , p. 47 ). (1997). 24). Community service organizations cancollaborate with schools to provide stimulating learning activities for thestudents after school hours, including music programs and mentor programs(McLanahan and Sandefur, 1994, pp. 66). 26). Children Today, 19(3), 12-14.(1993, December 11). 56). Since most of the school funding comes fromlocal property taxes, poor districts have little funding to provide adecent education for their constituents (Horn, 1987, p. Science News, 146(2), 24-26.Duncan, G. For a singlemother with two children, the subsidy is about $58 a month. McLanahan and Sandefur provided illuminating statistical informationillustrating the effects of single-mother families on the educationalachievements of the children. Before discussing the effects of the single-parent family structureon the children, it is important to have a general profile of an AFDCfamily. On the other hand, structural theorists claimed that the childrenfrom these families are not significantly different from other children.The difference occurs only when these children reach adulthood andencounter structural obstacles faced by their parents, such as jobdiscrimination (Duncan, Hill, & Hoffman, 1988, p. 12). To qualify for this subsidy, she must not be working nor be marriedto a man who is working ("Babies making," 1993, p. 94-95). Young single mothers, who dropped out of school and had out ofwedlock children, have neither skills nor education to provide them with anoccupation that will pay them more than the welfare subsidies. They will not see any reason for going toschool. Head Start and JOBS: Collaborative efforts help families become self-sufficient. (1994, July 9). Babies making babies. With the increase in the number of schooldrop-outs, many young men will end up in prison. The already-establishedJob Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) program should be expanded to notonly help AFDC families, but all families with unemployed wage-earners(Turner, Barbaro, & Schlank, 199 , p. The information produced by High School and Beyond Study comparingthe school performance of the children from the two family structuresindicated a difference in the test scores, grades and attendance record.The children from one-parent families scored lower than the children fromtwo-parent families. This negative result is reiterated by SaraMcLanahan and Gary Sandefur in their book, Growing up with a single parent:What hurts, what helps. 147). (1995, March). Welfare dependence within and across generations. Psychoanalysts have also added to the discussion by studying theeffect of the loss of a father on the children's development. In fact, other research hasestablished a connection between women on welfare and their negativeattitudes about their future. 146). Growing up poor; poverty packs several punches for child development. Because AFDCfamilies have little income, they are not able to afford many educationaland school activities, which are vital to the development of the children'slearning skills, such as summer camp (1994, p. 34-35). (1994). Therefore, many boys have been allowed to run amok,dropping out of school and engaging in criminal activities. 47 ). Overwhelmed by their responsibilities and their poverty, manysingle mothers are not able to provide a comforting and educationalenvironment in their homes. Extreme cultural theorists consider that the negative valuesand attitudes exhibited by their parents about their future are transmittedto their children, therefore reducing their motivation to excel in school(Duncan, Hill, & Hoffman, 1988, p. 47 ). In fact, according to the National Longitudinal Survey ofYouth (NLSY), the dropout rates for girls exceed the boys' by 3 percentagepoints (McLanahan & Sandefur, 1994, p. 25). The schools and the general community can also play their part indevelopment of all children. Family caps. There are no resources forchild development, such as playgrounds, child care, medical facilities andparks (Duncan & Brooks-Gunn, 1997, p. 71). 71). 47 ). Therefore, the class will have a clear picture of the impact of thefamily on its children's educational achievements. In 1983 (thelatest official statistics available), single mothers constituted 75percent of all AFDC mothers. The statistics merely open the doors to manyinterwoven social issues, such as welfare, poverty, emotional and physicalchild abuse, teenage pregnancy and juvenile delinquency. (199 , May-June). (1987, May 18). The topic of this presentation is the effects of lower-income single-parent mothers on their children's educational achievements, with the focuson AFDC families. Adolescents are caught in conflicts with their mothers,resulting in lower school grades and poor emotional health, thus affectingtheir opportunities and their desires to complete their education (Duncan &Brooks-Gunn, 1997, p. Mothers on welfare, suffering from a lack of sufficient income,create an emotionally unstable home environment for their children. 24). Other scholars with the "cultural" perspective extend the impact ofthe negative socialization to the surrounding environment, including theneighborhood and the schools (Duncan, Hill, & Hoffman, 1988, p. 26). 26). In the case of single-parent families, there must be a stricterenforcement of the child support system so that children can benefit fromhaving dual incomes (McLanahan and Sandefur, 1994, pp. 41). The girls living with single parents werefound to be more than two times as likely to become teenage mothers, thusperpetuating the welfare cycle (Bennett, 1995, p. A27-A28). However, bare statistics donot provide the whole picture unless the underlying causes are explored ingreater detail. 9). Various theorists have sought to provide explanations for thenegative effects of the AFDC families on their children's educationalperformance. Statisticshave shown that more than 4 percent of the never-married mothers withyoung children who started receiving AFDC before they turned 25 haveremained on the welfare list for nine or more years (Duncan, Hill, &Hoffman, 1988, p. In a 1996estimate, 8 percent of children of these uneducated mothers will live inpoverty (Popenoe, 1996, p. In fact, 7 percent of thejuvenile criminals in state-reform institutions and 75 percent ofadolescent murderers came from single-parent homes (Bennett, 1995, p. 12). Living in such anenvironment, it is very likely that their children's perceptions abouteducation will be distorted. 25; Duncan,Hill, & Hoffman, 1988, p. 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