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Welcome to SUNS 2008! |
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Committee: UNIFEM Topic A: Improving the situation of single mothers Director: Alberto Jiménez Arreola
1 Committee Background
UNIFEM is a women’s fund at the United Nations that provides financial help and technical assistance to Improve programs and strategies to empower women’s future. UNIFEM has the task to perform certain activities to enforce this fund: Reduce women’s poverty Ending violence against women Try to stop the spread of the HIV/AIDS Achieving gender equality in all the world
This committee was established in 1976, is also known for making women’s voice being heard among the United Nations. This organization helps today girls and women in about 100 countries all around the world. UNICEF aims to for institutions to promote gender equality, women’s rights, and to remove completely discrimination to women in all countries at all times.
2 Description of the Topic
Single mothers have many economic problems because their jobs can’t support a family. Many of these families can’t give their sons and daughters a good place to live, an education, food, and good public services. The government of all countries needs to improve all these matters to help solve this problem. Solutions are needed to improve the situation of all single mothers and how they can continue their life without depending on any outside organization. One example is that many programs all around the world offer free education so their students, including adults, can have a high degree of education.
There are international organizations that focus on the needs of single parents. “Parents without Partners” supports single parents by offering them services like family and adult events, professional speakers, discussion groups, and publications. Another group for single parents that is very common in the UK is Gingerbread. The single parent group gingerbread offers, is for parents to make a change, to meet online and share ideas, mainly to give support to each other. Recently they have joined with another group called One Parent Families. The merging of these two groups has created an organization that not only supports single parents but also the single parent family. This is great because single parenthood affects the children as well as the parents.
There are many single parenting support groups, for example single parent divorced mothers. There are also support groups for single mothers. No matter what kind of situation there is, a support group can always help. Some other places where you can get assistance is at houses of worship or church.
Many people view single mothers as persons that do not deserve respect. This is not good at all because all women should be treated equally. The single mother's legal rights should be just as valid and legally equal as any other person. A lot of times the society and the government tries to avoid the recognizing a single mother’s legal rights.
There are other times where women get their child’s’ custody based on the statement that children should be with their biological mothers. In many cases single mothers have the custody of their kids.
Even in adoption cases, if the biological mother changes her mind after the adoption has gone through, there is a good chance that the child will be awarded to the biological mother, unless she is deemed to be unfit. Unfit would means that the situation of any person could be: substance abuse, homeless, reckless behavior, or mental instability.
There are persons that will not hire single mothers, though it is not supposed to be a question asked during employment. This is discrimination and it is illegal. Some apartments will not rent to single mothers. Again, this is illegal. No one should be discriminated because of their matrimonial status.
There are various cases in which single mothers can’t apply for something such as work; a living and education to their children because they are classified as single mothers. The governments need to be informed of this discrimination cases
Many single mothers need to work extra hours to help the family’s economy and many need day care assistance. To single mothers it is very difficult to work and take care of their children and many times they can’t afford a daycare. Many organizations in the world have realized that single mothers have been having problems and offer a free day care to their children
In countries like Russia and the USA reforms had been made so the public education and the efficiency of public medical services to all single mothers and their children has increased.
3 Examples of current policies of various governments
Mexico: Mexico counts with a general law of development and protection for single mothers since 2007. This establishes guidelines and institutional mechanisms that are settled to improve the situation of single mothers and their kids.
USA: In the United States there is legal support for single mothers. This support is given by several programs such as the Center of Law and Social Policy (CLASP) which provides services, for instance childcare and education, legal assistance, and child welfare.
Japan: The Okinawa Single Mothers Welfare Association is an organization together with the Government of Japan regulates laws that will help improve the situation of single mothers.
China: In China it’s supposed that to be a son of single mothers is almost illegal. These children don’t have the right to a free education or any kind of public services. Because the documentation needed has to have a man’s signature. China’s government doesn’t do anything to help these children.
France: government has been helping single mothers with welfare payments, calculating their economic situation and their possible needs such as education, medical services, housing, and money. Also France’s government created child care houses for the single mothers that need them.
4 Countries involved
France: In this country the percent of single mothers that are poor is of 5.7. France has a single parent allowance that is about $460 dollars for one child until he or she is three years old and can enter to a free government pre-school.
Germany: In this country half of the actual population of are part of the sozialhilfe (social Help) that gives a great amount of money to people that don’t have a work. Many single mothers use this program to help succeed.
Mexico: single mothers face a lot of discrimination and economic problems. There have been cases such as mothers earning less than 400 pesos a week that for the economical need, offer to sell their babies. The UNITUS (Innovative Solutions to Global Poverty) is an international organization that reserves a part of their budget for single mother’s microfinance credits, so single mothers can create their own small business to support their family.
Australia: Nearly 500,000 Australian families are single parent headed families. Single parent families are the most financially disadvantaged families in Australia. Single mothers without paid work and those who manage on part-time wages are frequently surviving on incomes under the poverty limit. The average age of the single mothers is around 33.5 years.
Spain: there is an association called Isadora Duncan, which is specialized in helping single mothers. By this source it is known that most unmarried woman end up living with their original family because they can’t work and take care of their kids at the same time. They work less, and so their payment is less. Unmarried woman’s pregnancy has duplicated from an 8% in 1991 up to 17% in 2001.
Japan: Since the 1990’s The country of Japan has experienced an increase in the divorce rate. This creates also an increasing rate in the number of single parent. This caused the creation of an integral reform that reduced the expenses of the welfare in the single mothers. This reform managed the reduction of these expenses and made them similar to the policies in the United States and the United Kingdom, including the welfare to- work policies. The objective of this reform is to increase employment among single mothers and make them economically self-sufficient.
This country faces similar problems as the USA and the United Kingdom such as expending a lot of money in single mother’s welfare, and the increasing number of unmarried mothers that need this help. The most common age of single mothers in Japan is between their 30’s and their 40’s. A good characteristic in the single mothers in Japan is their working rate is the biggest in the world, having as an example in the 1990’s Japan had the 87 percent of the single mothers working, and the 50 percent of the married mothers work. Unfortunately the low salaries in Japan make the working single mothers in an economical need. In Japan the country can calculate the child support by Set of charts allowing the calculation of the level of support based on the income of both parents and the age of the children The other way is to calculate on income and various expenses, including income taxes, social insurance, employment-related expenses, etc. taken from standard tables based on where you live in Japan
Court and visitation rights are not enforced by the courts or the police. Studies show that about 80 percent of separated fathers in Japan do not pay child support. In practice, Japanese courts rarely make child support orders resulting from debated situations.
China: from the increase of single mothers. They have faced many problems such as money, house and education to their sons. 57% of single parents in China face economic situations. Education is the most important thing needed to improve the single mother’s situation. China has created a council in their government to help improve the free education, medical services and all necessary needs.
5 Conclusions & possible solutions
For countries that do not have a lot of economical resources, there should be at least an international organization that supports single mothers. The creation of day cares must be considered, as well as after-school programs. In case the father is identified, he must attribute to the child’s formation with a percentage of his monthly salary. Economic support ought to be given to the mother. This money shall be used in favor of the kid’s education, health, and daily needs. Should there be consequences for fathers in case they don’t give the necessary support? They implement of schools in both wealthy and resource less countries must be done. Not only building them, but also giving facilities to let children enter there. Providing extracurricular activities on the afternoons maintain children in a safe and productive environment. Microcredit programs like the Nobel Peace Prize winning Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. This started just as an idea and now it has become a great help to many people. There are over two point one million borrowers, of which 94% are women. Should this project be applied in all countries?
6 Questions to think about in the debate: · What is the percentage of single parent families in your country? · Does your government have programs to make sure that children of poor families are helped with their basic needs like housing, food and medical treatment? · Are unmarried fathers in your country forced to make child support payments? Are they punished if they are “Deadbeat Dads” and don’t pay? · Does your country have prejudices against single mothers? · Do single or divorced mothers have the same legal rights as men in your country?
7 Bibliography:
http://www.gingerbread.org.uk/about-us/what-is-gingerbread.htm http://www.parentswithoutpartners.org http://www.singleparentingfordummy.com/single_parenting_support_groups.php http://www.ed.gov/programs/fpg/index.html http://lilt.ilstu.edu/gmklass/pos232/eurowelfare/welf14.htm
http://lilt.ilstu.edu/gmklass/pos232/eurowelfare/welf14.htm http://chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-12/18/content_401364.htm http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Europe/Family_Friendly.html http://japanfocus.org/products/details/2623
http://www.answers.com/topic/child-support http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-07-28-japan-divorce_x.htm |
