Poverty Soars Among U.S. Single Mothers

Some alarming statistics from a 2010 Census report: 42.2 percent of single mothers and their families in the U.S. are impoverished, and a whopping 85 percent of all single parents in the country are women. Poverty rates among single mothers are up nearly 4 percent from last year alone and 10 percent from the millennium, according to the report. More unsettling data revealed that poverty rates among single women in the U.S. are significantly higher than those in other high income countries. "The ever-increasing plague of poverty in America warrants an equally strong response,” said Legal Momentum President Elizabeth Grayer, calling on Congress to reform its Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program, the benefits of which are primarily aimed at women.