In 2002, 28% of American families were children under 18 living with one parent. Of that, 23% were single mothers (making only 5% single fathers). Single women with children account for over 50% of poor families in the U.S. "The single mother must cope with low pay, child-care problems, and the overburden of working and continuing to shoulder household and child-rearing duties. Child support from the father, as notes elsewhere, is inconsistent at best and often absent altogether, especially for unwed mothers." And aside from the obvious financial difficulties, us single mothers also have to deal with social isolation (due to our over demanding schedules and lack of time for social interaction) and emotional isolation (since there isn't another adult around to interact with there are feelings of loneliness and a sense of powerlessness) which can be increased by the social stigma that is often attached to the status of being a single parent.
Isn't that all interesting (and yet depressing) information? Another source I found said that there were 12.9 million one-parent families in 2006, and 10.4 million were single mothers. A person would think that with the dramatic increase in single mothers over the years, that the social stigma would be getting better,which I have to admit that to some degree it is, but there still isn't enough change happening. There is state assistance available, but the state doesn't make it very easy to access and there are a ton of strings attached. In order to receive FIP in Fort Dodge, they almost demand that the single mother has a full time job and don't care if they are trying to further their education in order to be able to get a higher paying job. They also really don't care if you get to spend any time with your child. And in order to receive paid child-care, you have to be incredibly careful about the school schedule that you have cause they allow NO extra time for studying... That is, unless, you have a huge break in between a couple of your classes. So, this semester, since I have three classes right in a row on M,W,F, I have just enough time to drop Lilly off and pick her up after my classes. Which means, I get to do all my homework with a 4 year olds help. Let me tell you, it is SO NOT EASY to try to concentrate on homework while a child is trying to do everything possible to have your full attention. My grades are already going down this semester and I'm contemplating whether I should drop my last class or not, in order to have a little study time and not so much homework... but will that affect my financial aid? Because that is what we live off of since I don't really receive anything in child support!
So, as you can see. Even though there is help available for single mothers, there isn't nearly enough that doesn't just make the mothers life more difficult! Well, back to my paper. I'm having plenty of luck finding things on the difficulties of being a single mother... but the benefits aren't something that can be described well enough (and doesn't help much with the physical/material side of things). I could write about the helpful hugs/kisses, the joy of a made-up, out of tune song about how much they love Mommy, and the heartwarming smiles... all of which helps aliviate some of the stress, but it doesn't put gas in the car and help with the cleaning and homework! But those are the moments that keep the single mothers going, and make all the stress worth while.
The way financial aid is calculated at community colleges, there's a certain number of credits you need to earn on average. Usually, as long as you are above 1/2 time (six credits), and past the initial enrollment dates you'll not end up being impacted.
ReplyDeleteI more or less lived off of finaid and only took 2-3 classes per semester for a long time. Not that I would encourage that because it takes longer overall to finish.
Really what you should be looking at is GPA Vs. Time. If you'd rather just graduate and get it over with, as long as your GPA is above 2.0, then you can start work faster. If time matters less to you than a high GPA, then drop the class. I will say that unless you're intending to move immediately into a high-competitive graduate school, GPA doesn't really matter. I left with a 3.48 and it didn't get me any more money. With accounting degree, it would have made a difference, but that's really the only career path I've seen with a large emphasis on grades.
-Eric
Here's a link to the way it worked at both DMACC and Grand View. My guess is it works the same way at ICCC, but I couldn't find their details on it.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.iowacentralonline.com/financial_aid.htm