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

Take Action

Urge Your Elected Officials to Protect Food Assistance

Join us in urging Congress to take immediate action safeguard the interests of American families by rejecting cuts to SNAP and other federal nutrition assistance programs.

Learn more

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

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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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