Single Mothers and The Workplace

It's eight A.M., the children are dressed for school, you've just put on your new suit for the first day of your new job...AND THEN...one of your children gets sick! (Go ahead... laugh; because I am sure like myself some of you have been there). Well, if you are like most single African American mothers, your support system is probably limited, and this morning none of them are available...SO WHAT DO YOU DO? Do you call in...?ON YOUR FIRST DAY or do you give your child some medicine...PRAY...and send her to school anyway. The obvious choice would be to call in and stay at home with your child, but you have bigger fish to fry...eviction notices, repossessions in process, disconnect notices and an empty refrigerator, and so we put our FAITH in God, take our child to school and pray she makes it through the day.

Society makes it seem impossible for we as single mothers to hold down a household and be productive employee's. Ladies I am speaking from experience. In 2000 I graduated from Texas School of Business, Houston, TX with my certificate in medical assisting and was being offered a position with the family practice office that I had interned with. One of the questions during my interview was...As a single mother, what type of support system do you have...WHAT? What did this have to do with my credentials and job performance? The answer...more than you think?

Before you get upset (as I was at the time), put yourself in the employers position without being bias. Next, ask your self, would you be more likely to hire a single woman with no children, or a single mother with children. You, like me know the answer is clear, especially if the person doing the hiring has children.

She explained to me that woman who are single parents must have some sort of support system or else they would always have to be off. It's sad to say that single mothers of children with disabilities are often discriminated against the most. Employers don't realize that although we are single mothers our children still require the same needs as those children in two parents homes (IF NOT MORE). Statistics show that 78% of single mothers are employed and 45% of them work TWO or more jobs. If this doesn't show dedication, I don't know what does.

So what can we do to help each other create support systems for one another within friends? After all ladies, when it's time to go out my girlfriends become your girlfriends and vice versa (you know I right), if we can all party together, then we should be able to support each other for a good cause. I think providing shelter, food, lights, and other necessities for our children is a very good cause. Find out which friends work and which ones don't, find out other friends work schedule, create a sign up list at church or any other organization you maybe a part of sort of like a carpool but for babysitting. Hey if you have to use the internet as a way of finding a support system...DO IT...send messages to friends on facebook, MySpace, whatever networking site you are apart of. Because until all jobs provide onsite daycare, annualised hours contracts-which allows women to take entire weeks off as long as they make up for the hours, WE NEED EACH OTHER!