Single Moms with children are everywhere. They are so numerous that people don't even notice anymore. They can be any age, any religion, any nationality and any color. But they all have one thing in common. Large scale Discrimination. And nowhere is that discrimination more prevalent than in the rental section of the housing market!
The housing industry, both in rentals and purchases must abide by a whole set of government regulations in regards to non-discrimination practices. Originally the basis of the policy came about because of the Civil Rights movement. In essence it is defined as " Refusal to sell or rent a dwelling to any person because of race, color, religion, handicap or national origin." But like all good ideas that are originally set in place to protect the rights of the individual, over the years, top-heavy bureaucracy, special interest groups and self-serving lawyers have undermined the good intention.
In the United States, as a group, single mothers with one or more children far outnumber the groups of gays and lesbians, blacks, Hispanics, middle eastern, handicapped, Baptists, Buddhists, the homeless, Catholics, seniors, Asians, Republicans, Democrats, purple haired people and people of German descent born in September. Yet they are the least represented by all the single-minded special interest groups whose lobbying is meant to only serve their own purposes. Frivolous lawsuits have further undermined what was originally designed to be a good law. As a result, the fallout has resulted in more harm than good.
Private landlords have had to rent small properties based entirely on word of mouth for fear that some group will take real or imagined offense. Rents have increased to compensate for that segment of single mothers who rely on some form of government financial support. Large commercial landlords simply take the government handouts and dump the single mother families into one end of a complex or shabby lower-income facilities where they must raise their children in the crime ridden section of the city.
Not all renters are good renters. Not all landlords are good landlords. But no man is ever denied housing because he "doesn't have a man to cut the grass," have too many children" or "four children will trash the place". No man has ever been told that there is a two year waiting list. No man has had to fend off the unwanted advances of a landlord or discover the landlord is snooping around his place. And money for rent vs. putting food on the table is never an issue as he earns more.
No special interest group, nor the general populace for that matter, has ever considered the greater good that affordable, non-regulated housing could do for the children of single mother families. There are no lobbyists for single mothers with children. There are no lawyers interested in actually helping to alleviate this situation unless there is a hefty profit somewhere in it.
In some areas, there are special interest groups for the single mothers but only if they are black, hispanic or from another country or fall into some other small criteria. What good does that insular help do and what message is that conveying? All those groups are doing is telling the other mothers and their children, not within their special circle, that they are not worthy of the same advocacy!
Single mothers raising their families alone are not going to fade away. But they have faded away in the collective mind. Perhaps just knowing that they are there and could occasionally use a hand up, not a hand out, would be one of the finer things that the public has focused on for a change rather than the frivolous.
by M Theresa Brown
Artist Entrepreneur and art career expert, M Theresa Brown is one of a very small minority of artists successfully making a living with her art sales. She has been selling her visual art as her livelihood for 20 years. Although she is now married to an artist, she supported herself and her four children as a single mom artist for years! For the past 10 years she has worked with, helped and advised artists on every aspect of taking control of their artist career by utilizing her methods of marketing, promoting and selling their creative art.
The housing industry, both in rentals and purchases must abide by a whole set of government regulations in regards to non-discrimination practices. Originally the basis of the policy came about because of the Civil Rights movement. In essence it is defined as " Refusal to sell or rent a dwelling to any person because of race, color, religion, handicap or national origin." But like all good ideas that are originally set in place to protect the rights of the individual, over the years, top-heavy bureaucracy, special interest groups and self-serving lawyers have undermined the good intention.
In the United States, as a group, single mothers with one or more children far outnumber the groups of gays and lesbians, blacks, Hispanics, middle eastern, handicapped, Baptists, Buddhists, the homeless, Catholics, seniors, Asians, Republicans, Democrats, purple haired people and people of German descent born in September. Yet they are the least represented by all the single-minded special interest groups whose lobbying is meant to only serve their own purposes. Frivolous lawsuits have further undermined what was originally designed to be a good law. As a result, the fallout has resulted in more harm than good.
Private landlords have had to rent small properties based entirely on word of mouth for fear that some group will take real or imagined offense. Rents have increased to compensate for that segment of single mothers who rely on some form of government financial support. Large commercial landlords simply take the government handouts and dump the single mother families into one end of a complex or shabby lower-income facilities where they must raise their children in the crime ridden section of the city.
Not all renters are good renters. Not all landlords are good landlords. But no man is ever denied housing because he "doesn't have a man to cut the grass," have too many children" or "four children will trash the place". No man has ever been told that there is a two year waiting list. No man has had to fend off the unwanted advances of a landlord or discover the landlord is snooping around his place. And money for rent vs. putting food on the table is never an issue as he earns more.
No special interest group, nor the general populace for that matter, has ever considered the greater good that affordable, non-regulated housing could do for the children of single mother families. There are no lobbyists for single mothers with children. There are no lawyers interested in actually helping to alleviate this situation unless there is a hefty profit somewhere in it.
In some areas, there are special interest groups for the single mothers but only if they are black, hispanic or from another country or fall into some other small criteria. What good does that insular help do and what message is that conveying? All those groups are doing is telling the other mothers and their children, not within their special circle, that they are not worthy of the same advocacy!
Single mothers raising their families alone are not going to fade away. But they have faded away in the collective mind. Perhaps just knowing that they are there and could occasionally use a hand up, not a hand out, would be one of the finer things that the public has focused on for a change rather than the frivolous.
by M Theresa Brown
Artist Entrepreneur and art career expert, M Theresa Brown is one of a very small minority of artists successfully making a living with her art sales. She has been selling her visual art as her livelihood for 20 years. Although she is now married to an artist, she supported herself and her four children as a single mom artist for years! For the past 10 years she has worked with, helped and advised artists on every aspect of taking control of their artist career by utilizing her methods of marketing, promoting and selling their creative art.
