STORY HIGHLIGHTS

  • Almost half of single mothers worldwide (44%) struggled to afford food in the past year
  • In the U.S., 40% of single mothers struggled to afford food; 27% could not afford shelter (emphasis added)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Worldwide, Gallup finds that single mothers are more likely than the rest of the population to be struggling to put food on their table and shelter over their head. For example, across 148 countries, 44% of single women aged 18 to 60 with children younger than 15 in their household — a proxy for single mothers — say they have had trouble affording food for their family in the past year, compared with 28% of other adults.

But the disparities between these single women and the rest of the population are even larger in some countries, including the U.S. Single mothers in the U.S. are significantly more likely than other Americans to say there have been times in the past 12 months when they did not have enough money for food (40% vs. 17%, respectively) or adequate shelter (27% vs. 14%).

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