Good Thesis Statement On Rewards Of Single Motherhood

While there are many jobs that one could be proud of today, being a single mother is not one we often here about. In fact, being a single mother is possibly one of the most under-recognized, difficult, but ultimately rewarding jobs we know about today. Single mothers are becoming more common in neighborhoods throughout the world. The traditional, nuclear family of the 1950’s appears to be fading into history. Though they are often segregated and, unfortunately, pushed to the margins of society, single mothers are becoming more common than ever before in our modern world. In this feminine age, women are finding it easier to take it upon themselves to raise their families without the help of fathers in their homes. While untraditional families, led by single mothers are becoming more common, as well as more accepted in society, they still face many tests when raising their families alone. Still, no matter what challenges in their personal life, one can learn how to build character, a strong work ethic, and the gift of unconditional love.
While single motherhood comes with many rewards, it can also come with many obstacles. For example, many single mothers report that their single parenthood derailed their educational or career plans . Raising a child is demanding, challenging work, and it is often necessary to dedicate more time to the care of an infant or toddler, than to a career or schoolwork. However, according to Kei M. Nomaguchi and Susan L. Brown’s, “Parental Strains and Rewards Among Mothers: The Role of Education,” one of the highest rewards reported by single mothers is the ability for them to build their character . Essentially, single mothers believe that the responsibility demanded of them by their children allowed them to become stronger people. They were forced to re-prioritize their lives and put somebody else before themselves. Many felt like they had never done this before; when they did, they realized just how important other lives were over their own. Moreover, when single mothers who pursued education after raising their children into their school years reported that they felt more prepared to take on their course loads that they may have been prior to having children.
Building a strong character is important, but is not the only thing that single motherhood brings a woman. Raising a child effectively and safely is also a lot of work. A woman must earn enough money to feed and clothe a child. In addition, they must also care for them, nurture them, and keep them safe. This can be an exhausting task. As stated in Beverly Skeggs and Vik Loveday’s “Struggles for Value: Value Practices, Injustice, Judgment, Affect and the Idea of Class,” many single mothers are often stereotyped as being of a lower class than women who have children in wedlock, or who stay married and, therefore, are often paid less than these women are; this fact is often attributed to their long workweeks . Many single mothers are also often undereducated, at first. Many go on to complete their educations. However, their initial underdeveloped schooling typically only allows for minimum wage jobs, which also allots for their long workweeks. In fact, some single mothers hold more than one job in an effort to create a financially safe and stable home for their child. . While this is an obvious, sometimes detrimental, obstacle for single mothers, it can also be a reward. The strong work ethic they single mothers develop when earning money to care for their children, and also nurturing their children, can also help them in other endeavors. If they decide to pursue a career, or further their education, they will have a solid foundation that will allow them to continue working hard toward their goals. Furthermore, they will set a positive example for their children, allowing them to see what it is like to work hard, and reap the benefits of a strong work ethic.
Maturing into a strong woman with an effective work ethic are both adequate characteristics, both derived from being a single parent. However, they are not the only rewards to be reaped from single motherhood. Most importantly, single motherhood grants a woman the ability to experience and cultivate the ability to give and receive unconditional love. The unconditional love given by a child is one of the greatest rewards experienced by a parent, especially single mothers . Despite the fact that they are sometimes ostracized by mainstream society, or looked down upon for being single mothers, many report that the obstacles of raising a child alone are the very things that taught them how to give and receive unconditional love. For example, in a two-parent household, discipline may be easier for parents than in a single-parent household, especially when the one parent is a woman. Traditionally, authority figures are seen as male, sometimes making it difficult for women to discipline their children. Thus, it has been reported that many single mothers have to be stricter on their children in order to make them behave or force them to adhere to household guidelines. In many instances, children act out viciously and disobediently, sometimes saying hurtful things to the single mother. Despite this, single mothers still report that these obstacles taught instances when their child needed them the most, as well as what it truly meant to love unconditionally . Two parent households allow one parent the option of stepping out of the situation if the child acts out or says something hurtful. In these instances, the parent may never understand what it is truly like to give unconditional love because they may never hear hurtful phrases such as, “I hate you,” or, “I hope you die!” However, single mothers hear all of these and more, but their children in spite of them. Furthermore, they see their children continue loving them back in spite of their anger.
In sum, while there are many obstacles that come with single motherhood, there are also many rewards. Society may look down on women who raise children on their own, and the women themselves may at first consider it a tragedy, but in the end they will often find that raising a child alone could be the best thing that will ever happen to them. Single motherhood often grants the woman an opportunity to build a stronger character than that of her peers; primarily because of the trials she will face raising her offspring. Moreover, she will also cultivate a strong work ethic because it takes a lot of work to raise a child by one’s self. She will work many hours at a job, and then come home to care for and nurture a child, often working over 90 hours in one week. Most importantly, however, she will experience the true definition of unconditional love, as she will see the unparalleled meaning of what it is like to be hated for an instant, and loved for an eternity. She will not have the luxury of stepping away to let the father, the traditional authoritative figure, discipline the child, but will bear every insult and bit of anger they have, and will still love them in spite of it. What is more, she will be loved back by the child. As one can see, though single motherhood comes with its fair share of obstacles, the rewards that come with the joys of raising a child on one’s own are worth any struggle for a woman.

Works Cited

Nomaguchi, Kei M. and Susan L. Brown. "Parental Strains and Rewards Among Mothers: The Role of Education." Journal of Marriage and Family (2011): 621-636. Article.
Skeggs, Beverly and Vik Loveday. "Struggles for value: value practices, injustice, judgment, affect and the idea of class." The British Journal of Sociology (2012): 472-490. Article.