Single Parent In The Military example essay topic

I was very surprised to find how much money we had left at the end of our budget. Much of the money that was left over would probably been taken for State and Federal tax, which we could not reasonably determine based on the information given. We were very lucky to find that Lowell Housing Authority offers section 8 housing with all essential utilities included for 163.00 dollars a month. I know from experience that housing is not usually that cheap, but the information we gathered on housing was legitimate. We were also lucky in that we found a way to get free health care. Had we not found those two loopholes I don't think we would have been able to create as realistic of a budget that we did.

I was also very surprised at the things that I never had even thought about. I still being a dependent of my parents never really thought about the cost of toiletries and utilities. While the monthly cost does not seem to be outrageous, when multiplied by 12 for each month of the year, it starts adding up. This project is a reality check to students like me who have often not thought about the expenses that are taken for granted.

The first article I read deals specifically with single parents who are enlisted members of the military. As of lately, military personal have been shipped out for the war on terrorism as well as the war in Iraq. The government offers no programs to single mothers and fathers in the military due to the fact that everyone's situation is completely different, and they simply would not have the resources or time to deal with all of them individually. The lack of time would be a very important issued since the number of single moms and dads in the military has almost doubled since 1992. It is believed that the reason for the increase in enlisted single parents is directly tied to the increase in single parents in the U.S. Another difficulty of being a single parent in the military is the constant moving from base to base. Studies have shown that it is healthier for a child to grow up in a constant environment, which most men and women in the army are not able to provide.

The last challenge facing single parents in the army is the lack of the double income household. Military personnel are not paid particularly well and as seen in our budget, living is not cheap. The second article I read deals specifically with Latino single mothers living in poverty. One issue facing these women is that they are brought up very religiously, so that for many of them abortion is not an avenue they can explore. Also many of them feel compelled to marry the father of their child because Catholicism deems it a sin to be an unwed mother.

One specific problem many of the women in the article faced was adequate childcare. Many of them worked double shifts or two different jobs to support their families, but this left little time to raise their families. One women in particular admitted that she did not see her children often, but that the time they did spend together was always quality time..