AnnClarklivedpaychecktopaycheck.Sheworkedfulltime

butbarelyearnedenoughtosupportherselfandherdaughter.Shehadnosavings,noretirement,andnorealprospectsofincreasedearnings.Aco-workerencouragedAnntoreturntoschool.Annhadattendedcollegeforacoupleofyearsbuthadnevercompletedabachelor’sdegree.Anndecidedthatshehadtostopwaitingtobe“rescued”andtakethestepsnecessarytobuildamoresecureandprosperousfutureforherselfandherdaughter. Attendingschoolwhilework-ingandcaringforherdaughterwasstressfulandphysicallyexhausting,butAnnwasabletopiecetogethersupportfromanumberofsourcestomakeitallpossible.Heremployerwasflexibleenoughtoallowhertoattendclassesandprovidedsometuitionreimbursement.Shewasabletogetsomeadditionalfinancialaid,andherfamilyhelpedbytakingcareofherdaughterafterschool.

ThreeyearslaterAnngradu-atedwithherbachelor’sdegree.Annreportsthattheimpactofreturningtoschoolhasbeenenormous.Theincreasedincome,whichmorethandoubled,notonlyallowedAnntoachieveagreaterdegreeoffinancialstability,butpermittedhertobeginaserioussavingsplan. TheimpactofAnn’seducationextendsbeyondherincome,however.Annseesopportunitiesforcareeradvancementbecauseshechosetocompleteabachelor’sdegreeratherthananassociate’sdegree.Annsays,

“Ididn’trealizehowmuchweightabachelor’s[degree]pullsuntilIgotit.” LikeAnnClark,manysinglemothershavelearnedtheexponentialvalueofeducationinhelpingthemmovebeyondthepovertylineandbecomeeconomicallyself-reliant.

backgroundIn2005,theEconomicSelf-RelianceCenter(ESRCenter)atBrighamYoungUniversitypartneredwiththe

SingleMomFoundationofSaltLakeCity,Utah,tocreatetheSingleMomInitiative,amulti-year,multi-disci-plinaryresearcheffortwiththegoalofimprovingknowledgeabouttheuniquechallengesfacingsinglemoth-ersandcreatingbestpracticepolicies. Thefirstphaseoftheinitiative’sresearchagendaconsistedofgather-ingbaselineinformationaboutsinglemothersthroughaliteraturereview,alearninglab,andfocusgroups—allofwhichwereconductedduring2006.Theseinitialactivitiesprovidedabaseforthesecondphase:thedevelop-mentandlaunchofastatewidesurveyofsinglemothers. TheESRCentercontactedSurveySampleInternational(SSI),whichdrewarandomsampleofmorethansixty-fivethousandphonenumbersinUtah.Morethansixtystudentswerehiredtocallandscreenforbothmarriedandsinglemoth-erswithchildrenundertheageofeighteenlivingathome.BetweenMarchandMay2007,97percentof

education a p o w e r f u l a s s e t f o r s i n g l e m o t h e r s

By Richard J. McClendon and Jul ie Humberstone | Photography by Mark A. Phi lbr ick

3� ESr — SPRING 2008

rESEarcH

thephonenumberswerecalledasmanyasseventimesinordertomakeatleastonecontact.Intheend,420singlemotherswerecontactedbyphoneandagreedtotakeasurvey.Fifty-sevenpercentrespondedtothemailsurvey.Thesurveyincludedquestionsaboutbasicinformationaboutpersonal,marital,andfamilydemographics.Itwasalsodesignedtoassesseducation,work,financial,andself-reliancefactors.

significant factors related to the esr of utah single mothersOneoftheprimarypurposesofoursurveywastolearnwhatfactorsleadtogreatereconomicself-reliance(ESR)forsinglemothers.Figure1showstheconceptualpredictorsofESR.ESRisconstructedoffourdif-ferentobservedfactorsorscales:(1)thetotalincomefrom2006,(2)ascorethataddsallassets,(3)amea-sureofhowoftenapersonsavesherincome,and(4)ascalethatassesseshowlongapersoncouldmaintain

hercurrentstandardoflivingwithoutrelyingonacreditcardifshelosthersourceofincome. Thepredictorvariablesinthemodelaremeasuresthatcomefromvariousdimensionsofasinglemother’slife,includingherpersonaldemographics,education,well-being,andfamilyexperiences.Socialscienceresearchhaslongshownthebenefitsofincludingmeasuresfromthesetypesofdimensionswhenpredict-ingeconomic-basedoutcomes.Additionally,severalofthesefactorsrepresentmeasuresofhuman,finan-

cial,andsocialcapital.Learningaboutthetypeandlevelofasso-ciationbetweentheseindependentfactorsandESRiscriticalinhelpingsinglemothers.

WeusedStructuralEquationModeling(SEM),amultipleregres-sionanalysis,totestthefitofourhypothesizedmodelandtofindthestatisticallysignificantindependentfactorsleadingtothedependentvari-able—ESR.SeveralfactorsprovedtohaveasignificantrelationshipwithESR.Forinstance,wefoundthetypeofhousinginwhichasinglemotherliveshasoneofthestrongestasso-ciationswithESR.Singlemotherswhoarerenting(-.39)orlivingwithfamily(-.37)aremuchlesslikelytohavehighratesofESRcomparedto

singlemotherswhoowntheirhome.Anotherfactor,governmentassis-tance,producedacorrelationbetaof-.22,showingthatthemorereliantasinglemotherisongovernment

“�I�didn’t realize�how�much�weight�a�bachelor’s�[degree]�pulls�until�I�got�it.”

—Ann Clark

35

assistancethelowerherESRlevelis.Self-esteem(.19)andsocialsup-portforfindingajob(.33)werealsostrongindicatorsofESR.Motherswithhigherself-esteemscoresorwhohavestrongsocialsupportnetworksforfindingajobscorehighonESR.Naturally,theseresultscomeasnosurprise.However,theseindepen-dentvariablesmaybesomewhatdifficulttoargueasfactorsleadingtoincreasedESReventhoughtheyareshownaspredictorsinourmodel.Thedirectionoftheirrelationshipisunclear;theycouldbe“outcomes”ofhigherESRratherthan“causes.” Thesignificantfactorsinthemodelmorereasonablylabeledas

“predictors”ofESRincludeage(.27),maritalstatus(.21),andeducationlevel(.17).Essentially,thesetellus

thatsinglemotherswhoareolder,whoremarryintostablemarriages,orwhoaremoreeducatedhavesig-nificantlyhigherESRscores.Again,suchfindingsarenosurprise.Itmakessensethatoldermothershaveaddedexperienceandmoretimetobuildtheirincomes,assets,andsav-ingsdiscipline.Also,singlemotherswhoremarryintostablerelationshipsareabletocombinetheirincomeandassetswiththeirnewpartners’toimmediatelyincreasetheirESR.Forsomesinglemothers,however,remarriageintoa“stable”relationshipisnotaviableoption.Instead,return-ingtoschoolformoreeducationisamoreself-actuatingpathtoimprov-ingESR.Giventhateducationisoneofthekeycomponentsofhumancapital,returningtoschoolmaybe

oneofthemostsensibledecisionsasinglemothercanmake,regardlessofwhethersheremarries.

education and utah single mothersWhatdidourstudyrevealabouttheeducationalbackgroundandattitudesofsinglemothersinUtah?Firstofall,thehighschoolgradesofthesemothersarequiteimpressive—99percentofthemothersreceivedeitheranaverageoraboveaverageGPA.Inotherwords,veryfewofthesemoth-erswereacademicfailuresinhighschool.Furthermore,about80per-centhaveobtainedsomepost-second-aryexperience.Ofthosewhohavepursuedfurthereducation,around32percenthavereceivedsomecollegeorskilltraining,25percenthave

Figure 1:�Conceptual�Model�for�Predicting�the�ESR�of�Utah�Single�Moms

Demographics • Age • Race • Religiosity • Job Satisfaction • Community Involvement

Education • Parent’s Education • Education Level • High School Grades • Computer Skills • When Returned to School • Belief When to Return to

School

Well-Being • Physical Health • Overall Happiness • Depression • Self-Esteem • Self-Efficacy/Goal

Family of Procreation • Marital Status • Years as a Single Mom • Number of Children • Child with Disability • Parenting Attitude

& Involvement • Child Custody • Child Support • Government Assistance • Housing • Child(s) Father’s Education &

Well-Being

Family of Orientation • Parent’s Marital Status • Relationship with Parents

& Siblings • Job Support from Family

& Associates

ESR • Total Income • Asset/Debt Index • Savings Practices • Standard of Living • Endurance

3� ESr —SPRING 2008

scoresonthe2006incomescaleforeacheducationallevelcategory.Singlemotherswithahighschooldegreeorlesshaveameanscoreof2.62,whichtranslatesintoanincomeofaboutUS$16,000ayear.Thosewitheithersomecollege/skilltrain-ingoraskills/tradedegreeareat2.92,andthosewithanassociate’sdegreescored3.39,indicatinganannualincomeofUS$19,000andUS$24,000respectively.Singlemotherswithabachelor’sdegreehaveayearlyincomeofapproxi-matelyUS$34,000,andthosewhohaveattainedagraduateorprofes-sionaldegreeearnapproximatelyUS$48,000annually. Takingacloserlookatthepracti-calconsequencesofthesedifferencesclearlyillustrateswhylesseducatedsinglemothersoughttoseriouslyconsidergoingbacktoschoolwiththegoalofnolessthanabachelor’sdegree.The2006U.S.DepartmentofHeathandHumanServicespovertyguidelinesspecifythatthepovertythresholdforahouseholdofthreeisUS$16,000.3Thismeansthatasinglemotherwithtwochildren,which

completedaskillorassociate’sdegree,and23percenthaveattainedabachelor’sdegreeorhigher. HalfofUtahsinglemothershavegonebacktoschoolsincebecomingasinglemotherand28percentarecur-rentlyattending.Amajorityofthesemothers(57percent)attendorhaveattendedschoolparttime,attendnightschool,ortakeonlinecourses.Ninepercentalternatebetweenfulltimeandparttimeorbetweendayandnight.Only32percentactuallyattendorhaveattendedclassesfulltimeduringtheday. Notsurprisingly,thetopreasonwhysinglemotherswentbacktoschoolwasbecausetheyneededtoincrease their income(64percent).Theyrankedpersonal improvement(56percent)assecond.Theyalsoindicatedthattheirfamily(39percent)and self(34percent)moti-vatedthemtogobacktoschoolafterbecomingasinglemother.Theaver-agetimeittakesforasinglemothertogobacktoschoolafterbecomingsingleisalmostthreeyears. Therewasnoclearanswerfromthesurveyaboutthebesttimetoreturntoschool.Thetopresponse,

“immediatelyuponbecomingasinglemom,”waschosenbyonly16percent.Otheranswerswerelessspe-cific,indicatingthattherighttiming

“dependsoncircumstancesorsitua-tion”or“whenit’sbestforthemom.”Whenitcomestothebesttimingfortheirchildren,thetopcategorychosenwas“whilechildrenareinelementaryschool”(36percent).

influence of education on utah single mothersLet’snowtakeacloserlookatthereal-worldimpactofeducationonthelivesofsinglemothers.Previousstudiesshoweducationtobesignifi-cantlycorrelatedwithanumberof

socioeconomicfactorsforwomen,especiallysinglemothersintheUnitedStates.Forexample,awoman,regardlessofmaritalstatus,withahighschooldiplomaorGEDwhoearnsabachelor’sdegreeincreasesheryearlysalarybyanaverageof76per-cent.1Inanextensiveliteraturereviewoneducation’sinfluenceonwomenandsinglemothers,MinZhanandShantaPandeyfoundseveralstud-iesconfirmingthatpost-second-aryeducationpositivelyaffectstheeconomicwell-beingofwomenandsinglemothersregardlessofwhethertheyobtainitbeforeorafterbecom-ingasinglemother.2Theyalsoreportthatsingleordivorcedwomenwithabachelor’sdegreeearnmoremoneythanthosewithlesseducation,andtheyhaveaneasiertimefindingajobthatpayswell.Additionally,womenwithhighereducationlevelsaremorefinanciallysuccessfulaftergoingoffwelfare,andthosewithacollegedegreearemuchlesslikelytofallbackonwelfare. Ourownresearchconfirmedthefindingsofsomeofthesepreviousstudies.Figure2showsthemean

Figure 2:�Education�and�Total�Income�(2006)

Total Income (N)

High School Degree or Less

2.62** (37)

Some College/Skills Training or

Skills/Trade Degree

2.92** (97)

Associate’s Degree3.39* (23)

Bachelor’s Degree4.45 (31)

Graduate or Professional Degree

5.85* (13)

1. Under $10,000

2. $10,000 to $19,999

3. $20,000 to $29,999

4. $30,000 to $39,999

5. $40,000 to $49,999

6. $50,000 to 74,999

7. $75,000 to $99,999

8. Over $100,000

37

research

represents76percentofsinglemoth-ersinUtah,hastohaveanincomehigherthanUS$16,000tobeabovethepovertyline.LookingatFigure2,wecanseethateverymotherwithtwochildrenandonlyahighschooleducationfallsbelowthisline. Afurtherlookatthoseinthenexttwocategories,somecollege/skillstrainingoranassociate’sdegree,showsthateventhoughtheysitabovethepovertyline,theyarestillbelowanotherkeyindicatorknownastheUtahself-sufficiencystandardpre-scribedbyDianaPearceandJenniferBrooks.4Theself-sufficiencystandardmeasureshowmuchincomeisneededforafamilytomeetitsbasicneedswithoutprivateorpublicassistance.Forasingle-parentfamilywithtwochildren,theaverageannualincomerequiredtobeself-sufficientinUtahisUS$30,532.Accordingly,it’snotuntilasinglemothergetstothelevelofabachelor’sdegreeorhigherthatshegainsenoughincometobufferher

familyagainstpovertyandattainaself-sufficientlifestyle.SinglemothersinUtahwithabachelor’sdegreeearnonaverageUS$34,000ayear.Thistranslatesnotonlyintheabilitytoriseabovethepovertylinebutalsotoachieveself-sufficiencyandbeyond.Duringthecourseoftenyears,abachelor’sdegreecanaddanextraUS$150,000toanincomecom-paredtoahighschooldegree.Suchadditionalincomecangofartowardmortgagepayments,childcare,trans-portation,andinvestments.

perceived barriers against more educationAsindicatedabove,thereisampleevidencethatoneofthewisestdeci-sionsalow-incomesinglemothercanmaketosecuregreaterESRistoattainmoreeducation,preferablyabachelor’sdegree.Yet,decidingtogobacktoschoolmayprovefrightening,especiallywhenconsideringseveralcommonlyperceivedbarriers.We

callthem“perceived”becausemostarelesssignificantandmoreeasilyovercomethanmanysinglemothersmightbelieve.Bysayingthisweinnowayminimizethechallengesthesebarrierspose,butaswewillshowfromourresearch,theymaynotbeasinsurmountableastheyappear. Weaskedmothersinoursurveywhohavenotreturnedtoschooltoindicatethetopbarrierskeepingthemfromgoingbacktoschool.Theylistedlackofmoney,lackoftime,children’sneeds,andfear.Moneyisofcoursetheparadoxbehindwhysinglemothersneedtogobacktoschoolinthefirstplace.LikeAnnClark,manyofthemlivefrompaychecktopaycheckhopingthatsomehowtheywillberescued.Unfortunately,thisisoftennotthecase.Manysinglemothersmaybeunawarethatthereareavarietyoffinancialresourcesavailabletohelpthemattendschoolandmaintaintheirfinancialobligationssimultane-

38 ESr —SPRING 2008

ously.Inadditiontofederalandstateaid,manycollegesanduniversitiessponsorscholarshipsforsinglepar-

ents.Infact,themajorityofcollegesanduniversitiesinUtahofferscholar-shipsthatarespecificallygearedforsingleparentsorgivepreferencetosingleparentapplicants. “Lackoftime”and“children’sneeds”aretwoothertopbarrierspreventingmothersfrompursuingmoreeducation.Theseconcernsareconfirmedbypreviousresearchfind-ings.Inourfocusgroupsweweresurprisedtolearnthatonesinglemother’sdaystartsat6a.m.andendsat2a.m.Whenaskedhowmuchofthattimesheisabletospendwithherchild,sheresponded,“Maybewecansqueezeintwohours.”Othermothersagreed,explainingthattheirtypicaldayoftenstartedaround6a.m.withlittletimeavailablefortheirkids.Betweencommuting,working,andschooling,thesemotherswereluckytobehomeby6p.m.or7p.m.,leavingaboutonehourbeforetheirchildren’sbedtime.Afterhouseclean-ing,homework,etc.,theyhavelittletimeleftforthemselvesbeforeretiring. Itmayseemthatbygoingbacktoschool,timewillbeevenmorelimited,especiallywiththeirchildren.Butourresearchshowsotherwise.Wefoundthatsinglemotherswhowentbacktoschoolactuallyreportedthesameleveloftimewiththeirchildren,thesamelevelofparentalsatisfaction,andthesamelevelofchildsatisfac-tionasthosewhodidnotreturntoschool.Theymayhavetoshifttheirtimeawayfromotheractivitiesforawhile,butwefoundthattheysuc-

about the authors

Richard J. McClendon is research

director at the BYU Economic

Self-Reliance center. he earned a

Phd in sociology at Brigham Young

University. he has extensive experi-

ence in research surrounding family

studies, development, and religiosity.

Julie Humberstone is director of

the Single mom Initiative at the BYU

Economic Self-Reliance center. She

earned her mPa from the marriott

School of management. She has

worked with both international and

domestic nonprofit organizations.

She teaches classes and conducts

research related to improving the

lives of single moms.

cessfullyavoidtakingawayfromtheirchildren’stime.Sowebelievethelong-termrewardsfaroutweighthe

initialsacrificesandchallenges. Anotherbarrierexpressedbysinglemotherswasfear.Perhapsoneofthemostcommonfearsofthesemothersisthattheyareacademicallyunqualifiedordonothavetherightskillstobesuccessful.Onpaper,ourassessmentoftheseconcernsprovesthefeartobemoreperceivedthanreal.WefoundthatthehighschoolgradesofUtahsinglemotherswithonlyahighschooldegreeorlessweremostlyBsandCs,certainlyhighenoughtoqualifyforpost-secondaryinstitutions.Secondly,thesehigh-school-levelmothersaveragedthesamelevelincomputerskillsastheirbachelordegreecounterparts.Ofthe80percentwhoownacomputer,82percentratethemselvesasatleastgoodinusingawordprocessor,87percentinemailing,and85percentinusingtheinternet.Inotherwords,manyofthemaresavvy,hard-workingwomenwho,ifgivenachanceandsomeencouragement,havetheskillsto“makethegrade”incollegelife.

conclusionSincethe1970s,female-headedhouseholdshavesignificantlyincreasedacrosstheUnitedStates,includingUtah.Thereisnoevidencetosuggestthatthistrendwillchangeanytimesoon.Therefore,itisimpera-tivethatscholarsandpractitionersworktogethertoassessthistypeoffamilystructureandtolearnhowsinglemothersnegotiatetheirday-to-daylives.Althoughfurtherresearch

isnecessary,initialfindingsfromourstudyshowthattheeducationallevelofasinglemotherisapowerful

humancapitaltraitthatsignif-icantlyimpactshereconomicself-reliance.Whiletheremaybelegitimatebarriersdiscour-agingsinglemothersfromreturningtoschoolformore

education,ourfindingssuggestthatthebenefits,bothforherandherchildren,arewellworththesacrifices.

Endnotes1 “StatisticalAbstractoftheUnitedStates:

2007,”U.S.CensusBureau,http://www.census.gov/prod/2006pubs/07statab/educ.pdf(accessed12December2007).

2MinZhanandShantaPandey,“EconomicWell-BeingofSingleMothers:WorkFirstorPost-SecondaryEducation?”Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare21,no.3(2004):87–112.

3“The2006HHSPovertyGuidelines,”UnitedStatesDepartmentofHealthandHumanServices,http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/06poverty.shtml(accessedDecember12,2007).

4DianaPearceandJenniferBrooks,“TheSelf-SufficiencyStandardforUtah,”DianaPearceandWiderOpportunitiesforWomen,http://www.utahchildren.net/pdf_files/UT_SSS.pdf(accessedDecember12,2007).

Returning�to�school�is�a�more�self-actuating�path�to�improving economic�self-reliance.

39

research