The growth in the number of children that live in single parent homes has instigated the need for policies and programs to improve the status of single-parent families. Single parents confront tensions that arise from their dual responsibility of raising their children while simultaneously earning a living. The correlation between single parenting and poverty is clear. Furthermore, single parents are more likely to face social isolation due to stigmatization. Many single parents also experience feelings of stress, frustration, incompetence, hopelessness and helplessness

The poverty level of children living in single parent homes is significantly greater than that of children living in two-parent homes, and continues to increase. Furthermore, children living with a parent younger than twenty-five years old are even more likely to live in poverty and be dependent on social support. Whether single motherhood is the result of family separation or unwed parenthood, it often results in considerable economic hardship for the mother and her children.

Child neglect derives from some single parents' display of frustration due to self-defeating thoughts. Efforts to address the financial struggles of neglecting single parents in the absence of other forms of appropriate support will not be effective, but will instead increase their feelings of hopelessness and powerlessness. While it is important that poor single parents receive financial support, they also need effective rehabilitative and support services in order to increase their level of self-sufficiency. Programs designed to support the needs of single parent families should involve strategies to address the stressors and frustrations that the parents encounter.

In the United States, single mothers experience greater poverty not only because of lack of education or skills, but also because of economic and social inequality that stems from deficient social spending policies. With many single parent families relying on one salary to address all of their financial needs, many of them are in need of additional governmental supports and entitlements. Research however indicates that wages and income support for impoverished families in the United States is lower than they are in many other developed countries.

Prior to 1915, there were no social programs in place to provide aide to single mothers. Provisions for women in crisis were only offered through private maternity homes that assisted at risk women and children without governmental cash incentives. Welfare programs were initiated in the mid-1930's for the purpose of providing resources and income assistance to impoverished individuals. Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) was later developed to specifically address the financial needs of mothers with small children while empowering them to seek education or vocational training and subsequently become self-sufficient. Based on the perception that women who were recipients of government aid were becoming "welfare queens" and not moving towards self-sufficiency, significant cut-backs were initiated in the 1980's, resulting in increased poverty among single-parent families.

There are mixed reviews regarding the efficiency of the social welfare program in the United States. Although AFDC provides less than half of the income needed to support a family, some suggest that it cushions poverty, and allows mothers to stay at home to care for their children. There are those who nevertheless believe that welfare reform has contributed to significant improvements in child living arrangements from 1996-2000 by increasing the self-sufficiency of mothers and creating incentives for couples to get married. Others argue that the current welfare policy encourages dependence on cash entitlements and does not support the well-being of mothers and their children.