The Never-ending Life Of The Single Mother In The City
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| Mother and son struggling to keep up |
This
picture portrays the life of a single mother in the city. It tells the story of
a woman caught in a balancing act. On the one hand, she has to ensure that she
completes her household chores to get to work on time while on the other hand,
simultaneously attending to her motherly duties of dropping her son to school. After
descending the staircase from her apartment, she swiftly makes her way across
the adjacent field with her son by her side, to catch the 8am bus. City life
for the single mother is more daunting and laborious than it is for the average
person. The sacrifices seem endless. But to her, her goal is greater than her
sacrifice. The sole purpose of ensuring her son a bright and secure future
means working twice as hard as there is no male figure by her side to lend
support. In addition, according to recent articles in the United States Express
Newspaper, women in society today, particularly those with children are seen as
a liability to their employers and are usually worth less than their male
counterparts. Reaching to work on time is therefore necessary and failure to do
so could well result in loss of employment. This is especially so in Trinidad,
a country where labor cost is inexpensive and the rate of unemployment high. Such
is the reality for most working women in the city. However, this inescapable
reality makes the challenge more profound for the single mother in the city,
who is forced to joggle life’s responsibilities, in many cases, on her own.
The phenomenon
of female employees in the City becomes a serious case in point. Most women are
underpaid and usually susceptible to abuse in the workplace. These women
however, are forced to keep quiet in an effort to preserve their jobs and sole
source of income. Their lifestyles become not only hectic, but stressful. Recent
studies also reveal that this level of stress may be transferred to the child
of those parents and increase the child’s susceptibility to ADHD (Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). This is supported by the previous post where
children are open to stressful hectic lifestyles and also stress conferred on
them from parents, which may result in life-threatening, irreversible
disorders.
For further reading feel free to peruse the following newspaper article links:
REFERENCES
Matthews, Jane.
(2014, January 20). Working women who have children are 'worth less' to their
employers than men, says Farage. Express Newspaper. Retrieved March 1, 2014,
from http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/
Dixon, Bobie-lee.
(2009, September 10). Single mothers doing double time. Trinidad Guardian.
Retrieved March 1, 2014, from http://www.guardian.co.tt
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