Celebrating Women's History Month: Centering Single Mothers in the Food Justice Movement From EPCA   

At Oregon Food Bank, we center and celebrate the lives of everyday women – particularly single mothers – whose love and labors are often undervalued or invisibilized completely.  

Far too often, single mothers are praised for their strength and resilience despite hardship. We recognize that the challenges they face are created and caused by inequitable systems and structures that purposefully uphold poverty and continue their oppression and exploitation. It is our mission to co-create a world where no one is hungry – where everyone is able to thrive regardless of their identities. This month and beyond, we advocate for single mothers and their families' right to safety, care, abundance and rest. 

Food Justice & Dismantling the Patriarchy are Interconnected Struggles

The struggle to dismantle the patriarchy and end hunger for good are interconnected because they share a root cause: Colonialism, a violent system that upholds supremacism and capitalism. 

Under colonialism, women – particularly single mothers – are treated as devalued, exploitable resources. As a result, they receive less pay and are invisibilized for their labors. And because capitalism makes it so that a person’s wealth is inexplicably linked to their safety and exposure to violence, single mothers and their families are more likely to experience atrocities such as femicide, domestic violence, child abuse, poverty and hunger. These atrocities are amplified for single mothers and caregivers with intersecting identities (such as BIPOC trans mothers and gender nonconforming caregivers).                                                                                                        

Rupa Marya’s Colonialism Framework illustrates the relationship between Colonialism, Supremacism and Capitalism

Programs that support single mothers are constantly under attack and even more so, single moms are often ridiculed for receiving these services. An example is the stereotype given to single Black mothers, who are deemed “welfare queens” for accessing their right to safety net programs. These inaccurate narratives are harmful – especially considering that 80% of single-parent households in the US are led by single moms and due to the gender pay gap and motherhood penalty, households led by single moms are more likely to live below the poverty line.

In contrast, single fathers and fathers in general are more likely to be rewarded as single parents and often receive a fatherhood bonus when they are expecting or raising children. The pay disparities between mothers and fathers reveal the ways in which patriarchy and capitalism are designed to support cis-men and keep women (as well as people of all other genders and gender-non-conforming individuals) exploited.

Additionally, even full-time working mothers are paid significantly less in the workplace. The National Women’s Law Center reports that full-time working mothers lose about $17,000 per year due to the wage gap and are paid about 74 cents to every dollar paid to single fathers. These pay inequities are even worse for mothers of color: Black mothers lose an average of $34,000 compared to white fathers, Native American mothers $36,000 and Latina mothers $38,000. This data does not even take into account that many single moms are unable to work full-time positions and that in order to keep their families afloat, many have to work multiple jobs. 

In the US, food insecurity rates are highest for single-mother households and households with incomes below the poverty line. This is why addressing the pay gap and achieving systemic protections and support for single mothers is directly related to our work to end hunger and its root causes. It is our firm belief that food is a human right — that everyone should have access to fresh foods without having to sacrifice or struggle in order to meet this basic need.

We remain rooted in our mission to end hunger, patriarchy and their root causes of colonialism. We commit ourselves to unlearn mainstream narratives that blame single mothers for their family struggles rather than the system that maintains their oppression. We commit ourselves to decolonize the belief that families “should'' look a specific way by celebrating diverse kinship structures – ones made up of chosen kin, community and single mothers. 

Join us by sharing the resources below. 

Resources

Support Black Mamas Matter to help advance Black Maternal Health, rights and justice

Connect Portland mothers to PDX Diaper Bank

Oregon Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence 

A Call to Safety Hotline

Linea UNICA (Free domestic violence and sexual assault hotline 24/7) Phone: 503-232-4448

Starting a family is a person’s individual choice. Planned Parenthood services and Oregon Adoption Services can help.