Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 21

Introduced by Senator Jackson

February 24, 2015

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 21—Relative to Single Parent Day.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SCR 21, as introduced, Jackson. Single Parent Day.

This measure would proclaim March 21, 2015, as Single Parent Day.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, On March 21, 1984, President Ronald Reagan
proclaimed the first “National Single Parent Day” and the Congress
has designated each March 21st thereafter in commemoration of
single parents; and

WHEREAS, President Reagan, in his proclamation, recognized
that single parents can and do provide children with the financial,
physical, emotional, and social support they need to take their
places as productive and mature citizens. He further noted, that
with the active support of friends, relatives, and local communities,
they can do even more to raise their children in the best possible
environment; and

WHEREAS, Single parenthood is very common in the United
States. At a given time in 2013, 28 percent of children were living
with a single parent. One-half or more of today’s children will
likely spend at least part of their childhood in a single-parent
family; and

WHEREAS, Most single parents are single mothers. In 2013,
77 percent of single parents were single mothers, and 85 percent
of the children living with a single parent were living with their
mother; and

WHEREAS, The majority of single parents have been married
or are married but separated. In 2013, 55 percent of the children
in single-parent families were living with a parent who was
separated, divorced, or widowed, and 45 percent with a
never-married parent; and

WHEREAS, Most single parents have no more than two
children. In 2013, 56 percent of single parents had one child and
30 percent had two children; and

WHEREAS, Low wages are very common for United States
single parents, and much more common for single parents than for
other United States workers. In 2009, 39 percent of employed
single mothers were in low-wage employment, with low wage
defined as an hourly wage less than two-thirds of the median hourly
wage; and

WHEREAS, Single parents struggle to pay for child care. In
many cases, the average cost of child care is out of reach for a
single parent, especially for those with two or more children; and

WHEREAS, The poverty rate for children in single-parent
families is triple the rate for children in two-parent families. In
2012, 42 percent of children in single-parent families were poor,
compared to 13 percent of children in two-parent families; and

WHEREAS, Child poverty is linked to poor health and school
dropout; to negative adult outcomes including joblessness, and to
reduced economic output estimated to be about 4 percent of the
Gross Domestic Product; and

WHEREAS, The employment rate for single parents in the
United States is above the average single-parent employment rate
in comparison to high income countries. Despite the above average
employment rate, the poverty rate for single-parent families in the
United States is far above the average poverty rate for single-parent
families in comparison to high income countries; and

WHEREAS, National Single Parent Day was created to honor
and recognize the hard work, devotion, and sacrifices of single
parenting; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That Saturday, March 21, 2015, be observed
as Single Parent Day; and be it further

Resolved, That the California Legislature encourages all
Californians to recognize the value and contributions provided by
single parents; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.