By Carol Burnett, MLICCI Executive Director
During this women’s history month, I would like to celebrate our colleagues across Mississippi who are single moms working hard to support their families. We work with single moms all across our state to make sure they have affordable child care, and to support their move to higher paying jobs.
We know single moms work. In fact, their labor force participation rate is higher than others, but not their pay when compared to so-called men’s jobs that have higher pay. Single moms are concentrated in low-wage occupations that have no maternity leave and no flexibility to balance work and family obligations.
With our Employment Equity for Single Moms project, we are working to break this occupational gender segregation and help moms move into higher paying occupations that come with benefits to support them and their families. Showing moms the wage they need to earn using the Living Wage Calculator tool, developing career action plans to support moms’ move to higher wages, and making sure she has child care is the pathway to economic security and equity.
Our Research Director, Matt Williams, wrote a great opinion editorial for the Jackson Free Press recently that shares information about the challenges single moms face and celebrates their courage and resilience in support of their families.
This Women’s History Month, we honor single moms for their tenacity and strength by advocating for policy reforms in child care and workforce development that will remove barriers and support their success. You are worth it.