Employment protections and income supports can bolster incomes and help protect families from poverty

Drawing on the idea that poverty rates among single parents are not the same across countries, Elise Aerts, Ive Marx, and Zachary Parolin compared income support policies in Europe and the US. They find that both employment protections – including minimum wage policies - and income supports such as child benefits, are needed to bolster incomes and protect both working and jobless single parents from poverty. They also find that programmes which target specific vulnerable groups within the umbrella of universal benefits are the most successful.

US welfare reforms of the past three decades have been about incentivising single mothers to find work by cutting support. Using US and European data, Thomas Biegert of LSE’s Department of Social Policy, and co-authors, find that there is no link between how generous public income support programs are and the employment outcomes of single mothers.

Using data from 27 European countries, Alzbeta Bartova, Adeline Otto, and Wim Van Lancker, determine that parental leave policies that are designed to be generous, and inclusive can facilitate single parents in maintaining employment and enable non-working single parents to enter the labour market.

Child support policies can also play a role in the wellbeing of single mothers and their families. Comparing child support policies in the US and Europe, Mia Hakovirta, Laura Cuesta, Mari Haapanen and Daniel R Meyer argue that child support amounts in the US may be set too high and should be reset to levels at which fathers can realistically meet payment requirements. They believe policymakers should consider guaranteeing a modest amount of public support to single-parent households.

Lessons from our research, and prospects for reforming US single-parent policies

In our research, we argue that policymakers should work towards two goals: reducing economic hardship for single-parent families; and minimising the disparities between single parent families. With these goals in mind, we have four lessons for policymakers in the US:

Policies to allow single parents to reconcile their work and family lives are crucial for securing single parents’ employment and incomes. Publicly supported childcare, and parental and family leave rights and benefits, are especially important.
Shoring up earned income—by strengthening and stabilising single parents’ employment rates and paid work hours—is necessary but not enough to ensure economic security for many single-parent families. Publicly provided income support adds a further layer of crucial support.
Strengthening income among single-parent families is crucial, but other goals matter, especially enabling the accumulation of various forms of wealth.
Most single-parent families need public support, but some are particularly vulnerable. Policies can be designed to include and protect those single parents and their children who are especially at risk.

Our work shows just how far behind the US is in its support for single-parent families, compared to Europe and other high-income countries. And while many of the US‘ weaknesses in this area are down to a lack of political will – one that is informed by fiscal conservatism and a focus on the individual – rather than a lack of knowledge, the situation is not completely bleak, and there are some possible openings for policy reform in the US in the medium and long term.

The COVID-19 pandemic showed that it is possible for legislators and policymakers to react to a problem with a wide array of new and increased support, both quickly and with public backing. Unlike the UK and some European countries, the US federal system allows for extensive policymaking autonomy at the state level, and some states have already implemented some of the policies we looked at, such as childcare, paid leave, child support policies, and more targeted income support. If they have positive outcomes, it may be easier for these policies to “trickle-up” to the national level, although efforts to enact policies at the national level are also important to reduce inequalities between states.

With public opinion on single parenting growing more favourable, we may yet see “American pragmatism” provide an opening for US policymakers to learn from elsewhere and make positive reforms to support single-parent families.

Chris Gilson of LSE’s Phelan United States Centre assisted in writing up this LSE Research Showcase. This research was supported by the Phelan United States Centre.

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