Our Focus
12M+ people in single mom-led families live in poverty in the U.S.
For these moms life is a daily struggle to pay the rent, to feed their families, to get to work and keep their jobs, to make sure their kids are safe and in adequate childcare/early childhood education.
Research shows that growing up in poverty severely impairs kids’ neurological, cognitive, social and emotional development—a key factor that leads to inter-generational poverty.
1/3 to 1/2 of children who live in poverty for a substantial part of their childhood will live in poverty as adults.
The longer a child lives in poverty before age 15, the higher the likelihood they will remain in poverty as an adult.
Getting a higher education degree is a clear path out of poverty.
Institute for Women' Policy Research analysis of data from 2013-2017 American Community Survey, Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (Version 9.0).
Brightway is helping single moms break the cycle of inter-generational poverty.
Approximately 1.7M single moms are pursuing a community college or college degree. Approximately half are Black or Latina.
but they face huge challenges...
88% of single moms in college have incomes at or near the federal poverty line
1/3 of their annual income is spent on childcare
9 hours a day are spent caring for their children and doing housework
Unsurprisingly, only 8% of single mom students earn an associate or bachelor’s degree within 6 years vs. 49% for women without children.
There are proven ways to help.