The three words “an unwed mother” describe a mother raising a child alone. According to statistics gathered by Bill Johnson, in 1997 the total of unwed mothers rose to “32 percent from only 5.3 percent in 1960.” Furthermore, another scary statistic, reported by Jennifer Gill in an article “Work and Family,” states that single parenting increased 73 percent since 1980. Moreover, one can observe there are one or two unwed mothers on each street in America. Even educated women are having children outside the institution of marriage. The number of children born to unwed mothers is so huge that society cannot ignore it. As a result, many working mothers have to assume alone all the responsibilities for the upbringing of their children. Sometimes, they have two or even three children and have no family for any support. Their financial situations are often a disaster; some mothers have to work two jobs to make ends meet. When a tired mother comes home after an exhausting day, she has minimum time for her children. Consequently, government help is a necessity, and single families should receive financial assistance each month to help to provide for the future of these disadvantaged children.In the twenty first-century, there is no excuse why society cannot provide a little help to single mothers. The older generation might complain that they do not have to pay for this improper behavior, and their taxes could be used for more significant problems. For example, sending money overseas to help Russia makes more sense to them than helping a poor single mother. Of course, the lawmakers are not interested in passing such a law, because they are mostly affluent men with little understanding of unwed mothers. This issue is not important enough to them. In the meantime, the crime rate is increasing in America. The streets downtown are not safe, and the government is fleecing billions away for new jails, for rehabilitization programs, for more special school programs, and for more police officers in the streets. Those programs do not have the potential to change a whole person. In fact, when a person has committed some crime, it is often too late to change his behavior. Clearly, one way to cure society would be to make a difference at the beginning of a life.
However, conservatives argue that there would be too many who would take advantage of the system and use the money for luxuries or for drugs. This is a poor argument, and I do not believe it. Many young unwed mothers love their children and want the best education for them. In the long run, the American citizens would see the results of spending money on the right issue. No one would argue that it takes a tremendous amount of time to raise a decent child; therefore, the mother needs to supervise her children until they become adults. From one perspective, a baby could be placed in a day care center, but a teenager needs direction and guidance. The teen years are critical; those years will determine a young person’s future. Furthermore, if a teenager has high self-esteem and is encouraged by his mother, he is not likely to drop out of school. For example, most European countries have help from the government, and single mothers pay little taxes. Personally, I know some single mothers in Switzerland who only work part-time to be with their children. If they were living in America, they would have to work two jobs.
Meanwhile, it is time that we take into consideration that tomorrow’s society belongs to today. Our children deserve the best upbringing, and only their mothers can do that. In fact, mothers are the first educators for their children. It is important mothers instill proper behaviors in their children. For example, discipline is a big issue. Children entering kindergarten or first grade are not capable of sitting and listening. Recently, President Bush passed a bill that will give billions of dollars for education. America already spends more than any other countries for public education, and yet there are still many children who fall behind. It is time to understand that spending billions for public education is not the solution. Instead, American people should try to find the source of the problem.
For one thing, nobody has the right to judge a single mother, and instead of judging, society should support those children already born. For example, this system works perfectly well in my own country, Switzerland, and very well in countries such as France, Germany, and Sweden. Most of these countries provide almost free day care, free health insurance, and between $200-$500 per child each month. In Switzerland, a single mother with an average salary pays only $1,000 dollars for federal and states taxes. In fact, all of those countries are economically very successful, and their crime rate is almost non-existent. Obviously, Americans are paying enough taxes, and the amount of spending for useless causes is tremendous.
If society does not want to realize that this problem exists, the next ten or fifteen years are going to be full of problems. Truly, we cannot rob our small children of their potential. Unwed mothers have the capacity to change the world, and their children can become productive members of the society. This spending money is a necessity to single mothers; in fact, this money has the power to change America.