Shining a Light on Hunger Among Single Mothers

It is clear that women are particularly impacted by the COVID-19 crisis — not only because the “feminization of poverty” is a persistent reality, but also because women dominate the ranks of essential workers in this country. Even before the pandemic, households headed by single mothers often faced heightened barriers to food security and economic stability due to a variety of longstanding issues ranging from employment discrimination to caregiving responsibilities to long-term effects of the wage gap. We are committed to addressing the many circumstances and systemic challenges that contribute to hunger among single mothers.

By the numbers:
More than 80%

of single parents in the U.S. are women.

40%

of single mothers struggle with hunger.

34%

of female-headed families with children live in poverty, compared to 16% of male-headed households and 6% of married-couple families.

15.9%

The unemployment rate for single mothers. It more than tripled in the first 3 months of the COVID-19 crisis (from 4.1% to 15.9%).

This is Hunger
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"I make sure that my son eats and then I worry about myself. That’s just what a parent does. I take him to a lunch program to make sure he’s getting food."

Rhonda, Louisiana
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Urge Congress: Pass the Expanded Child Tax Credit Now

The House of Representatives approved an expansion of the Child Tax Credit as part of a $78 billion tax package, which passed with broad bipartisan support in a vote of 357 to 70. Now, the Senate must act quickly to pass this bill, which would provide critical support to millions of families facing poverty and hunger. If passed, this would help 16 million children whose families are currently ineligible for this federal assistance. While we continue to push for stronger and longer-term policy solutions to address hunger, the Child Tax Credit is a proven and powerful tool to lift families out of poverty. The Senate must pass the Wyden-Smith tax plan as an important step forward. Please join MAZON in action today.

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The Next Battlefront in the War Against Women: Fighting for Congress to Fully Fund WIC (Ms. Magazine)

We should not have to beg lawmakers to fund federal programs that curb hunger, improve birth outcomes, reduce infant mortality, and promote healthy growth and child development.
Read more.

Let’s Really Try to Abolish Poverty (The New York Times)

Readers respond to a guest essay about the excessive level of poverty in the U.S. Read more.

40 Percent of Single Moms Face Food Insecurity. The Fall of Roe Will Plunge Them Deeper Into Poverty (Ms. Magazine)

The landscape of U.S. “abortion deserts” now glaringly resembles the map of where we see the highest rates of food insecurity. The right to choose whether to have an abortion is not only a matter of reproductive freedom—it’s a matter of economic justice. Read more.

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