Are Single Mothers Under Attack – Again?

Tara Pringle Jefferson

12 years ago

Wisconsin Sen. Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend) introduced a poorly worded bill that has set the internet on fire with its implication that the Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board should more forcefully emphasize that single parenthood is a contributing factor of child abuse.

From the bill:

Section 1. 48.982 (2) (g) 2. of the statutes is amended to read:
48.982 (2) (g) 2. Promote statewide educational and public awareness campaigns and materials for the purpose of developing public awareness of the problems of child abuse and neglect. In promoting those campaigns and materials, the board shall emphasize nonmarital parenthood as a contributing factor to child abuse and neglect.

Section 2. 48.982 (2) (g) 4. of the statutes is amended to read:
48.982 (2) (g) 4. Disseminate information about the problems of and methods of preventing child abuse and neglect to the public and to organizations concerned with those problems. In disseminating that information, the board shall emphasize nonmarital parenthood as a contributing factor to child abuse and neglect.

Despite sensational headlines all over the internet, I don’t think it’s necessarily this bill that is causing all the uproar. It’s poorly worded, yes, and probably going to prove to be ineffective. More abuse happens in single parent homes””I’m sorry, “nonmarital” families? Okay, fine. But what about those homes below the poverty line? Families dealing with substance abuse or mental health issues? These are all contributing factors as well, so where’s the emphasis on that?

But if you really want to get pissed about something, you must have missed Sen. Grothman’s 2011 paper, “How The United States and The State of Wisconsin Are Working to Encourage Single Motherhood and Discouraging Children in 2-Parent Families.” In it, he details the amount of benefits that single mothers can receive by way of the government, which he then compares with how much they can “gain” by getting married. I really beg you to read it in its entirety and let me see if your jaw doesn’t hit the floor. His recommendations? To restrict the type of food single moms can buy with food stamps (so they don’t buy “better” food than married parents), have them undergo mandatory drug testing before receiving benefits, and restrict what Section 8 apartments single mothers can live in (so they don’t live in nicer homes than married parents). Is this guy for real? He is.

He writes at the end of the report:

“I realize the above is going to be criticized as unnecessarily harsh…If we do not address this situation, our country will not survive in the way we have come to know it. SOMETHING MUST BE DONE. It is also somewhat outrageous that some married couples feel they can only afford one or two children in part because they are paying excessive taxes to provide programs for someone else to have four or five children.”

I think I’m going to let Denene Millner say it best:

At this rate 100 arrogant bankers in New York have probably done more damage to American children of this generation than the whole lot of single moms put together, but I suspect that Mr. Wisconsin legislature is not trying to haul them off to the local jail.

Just a little food for thought today. Chew it, digest it and keep it in mind the next time your local elections come around. Stay home and the idiot next door will become the idiot in your state legislature””the one who will try to legally proclaim you’re a criminal because you had a baby but not a husband. Vote with YOUR BRAIN, and maybe we can keep these crazies out of office and get down to the real work of saving our country.

BMWK family – let us know what you think.