MSMU RSWG 2023 final - Flipbook - Page 25
⊲ Maintaining Home and Family: What the research suggests
Families headed by a single woman
In 2021, there were 609,000 California households headed by single mothers, 169,000 headed by
single fathers, and 2.7 million households headed by married-couple families with children.65 The
median income of a single-mother household is less than that of both a married-couple family
and a single-father household.66 So it is no surprise that a single mother caring for her children
is four times or more likely to live in poverty than a married-couple family. In general, single
mothers have a fragile economic status that becomes more precarious with an increasing number
of children, making a path out of poverty difficult.
FIGURE 13
FAMILY HOUSEHOLDS IN CALIFORNIA
2,700,000
609,000
169,000
HOUSEHOLDS HEADED BY
SINGLE FATHERS
HOUSEHOLDS HEADED BY
SINGLE MOTHERS
MARRIED COUPLES
WITH CHILDREN
Rethinking gender inequality in home and family care responsibilities
The pandemic resulted in the relocation of work, school, and childcare to the home. For some
employees, working from home became a long-term reality. As this chapter has shown, though,
there has been no discernible change in the division of household labor — yet. Employers are
developing new workplace policies, and it is too soon to know the future impact of remote work.
However, working from home offers an opportunity to rethink the stereotypical gender-based
division of housework and family care and arrive at a more equitable distribution of domestic duties.
Life-family-work balance
If “home is where the heart is,” home, family, and friends can be an important part of a productive
life. During the time when isolation was used as a tool to limit the spread of the coronavirus, women
were disproportionately impacted as sudden changes in access to familiar sources of assistance
took hold. Stress levels rose in women more than men. The pandemic has taught us that the
support system offered by a network of family and friends can be essential for maintaining the
emotional and economic well-being of women and their families.
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