by Carrie Blackham

The challenges for single mothers in Owensboro and Daviess County can be overwhelming – especially for the 60 percent of them who have young children and are living in poverty.

That percentage is higher than state and national averages. Overall in our community, about 42 percent of single women with children of all ages are living below the poverty level. Families headed by single mothers make up about 12 percent of local households, according to the 2000 U.S. Census, a slight increase since 1990.

Sarah, whose name has been changed to protect her privacy, is one of these mothers. She is 25 years old with two sons, ages 5 and 2. When asked about the most difficult part of her life, Sarah said unequivocally, “Money.” Her family survives on a monthly K-TAP check (welfare assistance from the state) and the pay from her minimum-wage job. She obtained a clerical position through the Ready to Work program, a work-study program which helps K-TAP recipients develop job skills.

Sarah also receives several other subsidies from government agencies – child care assistance, food stamps and a Section 8 housing voucher. Nevertheless, after paying her bills, she has only about $40 left each month for diapers, clothing and other necessities such as laundry detergent.

Although Sarah can provide food and shelter for her family, the federal welfare reform law of 1996 has changed the long-term outlook for single mothers, partly because of its five-year time limit on cash assistance to low-income families. Sarah has been receiving K-TAP payments for the past three years. She said she is concerned about what will happen after her final assistance payment. She believes her problems will be solved with education. And she may be right.

According to the Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center, a working woman in Kentucky with a bachelor’s degree is likely to earn double the income of a woman without a high school diploma. But only 9.4 percent of the women in Daviess County older than 25 have a bachelor’s degree and only 6.8 percent have an associate degree. The numbers are higher for women without a high school diploma – 12.7 percent.

But this spring, after five semesters -- one semester more than the traditional student -- Sarah will graduate from Owensboro Community and Technical College with a degree in human services. Sarah has been lucky; up to this point her education has been financed with grants that she will not have to repay.

Next semester, however, when she begins working toward a bachelor’s degree in social work at Brescia University, Sarah may receive some grants but she also expects to take out student loans for much of the cost. It will take 16 months for Sarah to finish her education. It is doubtful that will be before her K-TAP payments end. In that case, she expects to attend school full time, work full time and care for her children.

Once she completes her education, Sarah hopes to obtain employment with the state Department of Juvenile Justice or Probation and Parole, where the starting pay can range from $20,000 to $23,000. What she may not realize is that she may still qualify for some of the benefits that her family currently receives.

The careers traditionally chosen by women tend to be those that pay the lowest wages. This is another area of local concern. Nancy Eskridge of Owensboro, a member of the Kentucky Commission on Women, notes that occupational segregation is a real problem for the women in Daviess County and across the state. Jobs traditionally held by women -- in elementary education and social services, for instance -- are among the lowest paid jobs available. Careers which pay more in math, science and technology are seldom chosen by girls in Kentucky: only about 17 percent of girls as compared to about 41 percent of boys, according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. To encourage more women to seek higher-paying jobs, Eskridge said the Kentucky Commission on Women plans to start a mentoring program to pair up successful women -- those with higher education, professional careers or business owners – with other local women and teenagers who may share their interests.

For now, however, Sarah is mainly concerned with staying on course while meeting the needs of her young sons. At times, she said, she’s ashamed of her circumstances and worried about how her boys will be affected. She grew up in a two-parent household where both parents worked. Her children don’t know that type of stability. Their father is not involved in their lives, though he visits sometimes. He lacks a high school diploma and seldom works, she said. After the birth of her second child, Sarah discovered that he has eight children by five different women. He hit her once, Sarah acknowledged, and was accused of physically abusing other women in his life. He doesn’t provide financial support to any of them and spends the majority of his time in jail for not paying child support, she said. The situation is common among her friends living in similar circumstances, Sarah said.

Amy Fogle, the Ready to Work coordinator, said that single parents definitely need help beyond financial assistance from state programs, such as childcare assistance and food stamps. Some indirect support is available. The Asset Building Coalition, for instance, educates low-income families in how to work toward financial self-sufficiency. Additionally, the Center for Community and Economic Development of the Owensboro Community and Technical College has set a goal to increase the number of scholarships by 50 percent over five years. The center is also attempting to increase access to higher education for low-income students by offering courses at varying times of the day and evening and in various forms (using computers and televisions).

The most intractable issue for single mothers, however, is how to improve their finances while also parenting their children. According to Nancy Roberts, the child care resource and referral manager for Audubon Area Community Services and a single mother herself, this issue is paramount. She asked, “Where does a single parent draw the line between continuing her education and working to support her family while still providing the stability that only a parent can provide?” Perhaps the better question is: How can the community help?

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