ARE WE DOING ENOUGH TO SUPPORT SINGLE-PARENT HOUSEHOLDS?

I recently engaged with an organization called the Council of Single Mothers and their Children (CSMC) in Australia. My conversation revealed some very uncomfortable facts and given that we mark International Women’s Day in March I wanted to highlight something that is generally underacknowledged but hugely unfair in our society- the challenges faced by Single- Mother Households (yes mothers specifically).

According to a 2024 report by the CSMC in Australia, single-mothers, despite being employed at equivalent levels to partnered mothers, are struggling to get ahead financially. Across all levels of employment, 87% of single mothers are concerned about their long-term financial circumstances. Further, nearly half of the respondents (49%) lack confidence in their long-term housing situation- safe and affordable housing remains a significant challenge. It is important to note that 67% of single mothers surveyed experienced family violence, increasing to 75% in families with a mother living with a disability. Given this, it is likely that single-parenthood was thrust upon them and was not a choice. It is important to note that these statistics are from a developed country like Australia.

Single- Mother Households make up over 84% of all Single-Parent Households Globally

So let me share some statistics from global studies on the proportion of single-parent and single-mother households worldwide:

The global share of single-parent households is 7.5% and increasing. Most of these households are led by women, accounting for 84.3%. These statistics are based on data compiled in the United Nations Database of Household Size and Composition 2017.

In some OECD countries like Belgium, Chile, Costa Rica, Denmark, Estonia, France, Iceland, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, and Sweden, more than 50% of children are born outside of marriage. In the US, almost a quarter (23%) of children are raised in single-mother led households.

In non-OECD countries, the statistics vary widely. In many Asian countries single-mother households account for 4-5% of all households. In these countries many single mothers remain unidentified or stay with extended family due to deep social stigma. On the other hand, according to the Gallup World Poll 2018, Sub-Saharan Africa has 32% single mothers. In South Africa alone, more than 40% of mothers are single parents and the number continues to grow. In another 25 countries, mostly in Latin America, more than 60 percent of births are out-of-wedlock.

Challenges Faced by Single-Mother Households

Lone-mother households experience high rates of poverty. Based on data from 40 high and upper middle-income countries with harmonized data, lone- mother households with young children have higher rates of poverty when compared to dual- parent households with young children across every country.

In OECD countries, for single-parents, average poverty rate is more than three times higher compared to households with children and two or more adults.

Women often face disproportionate economic impacts from marriage and relationship dissolution and widowhood. Research in 91 low- and middle-income countries revealed the rate of extreme poverty among divorced/separated women to be double the rate for divorced/separated men.

In more than one in five countries, daughters and sons are treated unequally in laws governing inheritance; and in 37 out of 183 countries, women and men do not have equal rights to inherit assets from their spouse. These inequalities are particularly stark in the Northern Africa and Western Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and in Central and Southern Asia.

Wide variation exists in the legal recognition of cohabiting couples globally also.

Other challenges faced by single-mother households include emotional stress, visitation and custody problems, effects of the breakup on children, disruptions of extended family relationships, problems caused by the parents entering new relationships and lack of practical support.

I personally know a lot of truly amazing and accomplished women who are single parents. Being in countries where affordable childcare options are available has enabled many to pursue professional careers or increasingly entrepreneurship as a path to financial wellbeing. Having said that, the statistics at a global scale are sobering. So what can we as HR leaders, diversity practitioners and corporate leaders do to better support single- parents and specifically single-mothers? #emotionallyintelligentleadership #inclusiveleadership

1. Council of Single Mothers and their Children (CSMC) in Australia
2. United Nations Database of Household Size and Composition 2017
3. OECD Family Database
4. World Bank Group (2018), “Divorce rate”, World Development Indicators Database
5. OECD Family Database
6. OECD (2020), “Single-parent families”, OECD Family Database
7. World Bank Group (2018), “Divorce rate”, World Development Indicators Database
8. United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2017). Household Size and Composition Around the World 2017 - Data Booklet (ST/ESA/SER.A/405)
9. Perelli-Harris, B., & Sánchez Gassen, N. (2012). How similar are cohabitation and marriage? Legal approaches to cohabitation across Western Europe. Population and Development Review, 38(3), 435–467