Anticipating mommy shaming when she had to take her 5-year-old daughter with her to the grocery store, on her daughter’s back MaryAnn Resendez taped a sign that read, “I am only 5. I can’t stay home alone so I have to buy groceries with mommy. Before you start judging, stay back 6 feet.”
After an unsuccessful grocery delivery order, Resendez found herself between a rock and a hard place: She couldn’t leave her daughter home alone, but it was risky to take her to the store given the chance of infection with Covid-19.
Expecting judgment from others only adds to the burdens single mothers face on a regular basis that are exacerbated during this time.
As we head into Mother’s Day weekend, single mothers like Resendez are facing even more stress during a pandemic. Many single moms are the only people who can ensure their children are fed, educated, comforted, disciplined and safe, without the in-person support of friends or family members. These responsibilities are in addition to the mothers’ own work and other struggles.
“Single parents are probably the most overwhelmed and time-starved people out there,” said Brigid Schulte, author of “Overwhelmed: Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time” and director of the Better Life Lab at New America, which provides research and reporting on work-life and family culture.”It’s tough, and this pandemic has just made it tougher.”
Nearly a quarter of US children under 18 live with one parent and no other adults, according to a Pew Research Center report on its related 2019 study. And women are more likely than men to live as single parents.
Here are some of their stories.