FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 9, 2026
MEDIA CONTACT:
Dreena Whitfield-Brown, dreena@whitpr.com
Jasmine Browley, jasmine.b@whitpr.com
Responses from nearly 1,800 single mothers across 43 states reveal widespread housing, food, and child care hardship.
MINNEAPOLIS — June 9, 2026 — Jeremiah Program (JP) and the Urban Institute unveiled their national report Elevating Their Voices: What Single Mothers Say They Need to Survive last week, based on survey responses from nearly 1,800 single mothers across 43 states. The report documents widespread economic and caregiving hardship among single-mother-led households and outlines the support these families say they need to reach stability.
According to the report, 97% of respondents experienced some form of housing hardship in the past year, 85% reported food insecurity, and 72% reported difficulty paying medical bills.
The Urban Institute authored the report and developed the survey in consultation with Jeremiah Program and Share Our Strength. The survey was administered during Jeremiah Program’s 2026 Annual Summit Weekend, drawing an 80% response rate from nearly 2,250 attendees across in-person and virtual platforms.
“Single mothers are not a monolith. They are workers, students, caregivers, and leaders who are doing everything right in a system that was never designed with them in mind,” said Chastity Lord, President and CEO of Jeremiah Program. “This report doesn’t just confirm what we’ve known at Jeremiah Program for nearly three decades; it puts that truth in the hands of policymakers, campus leaders, and communities who have the power to act on it. The voices in this report deserve a policy response that meets the scale of what they’re facing.”
Child care emerged as a leading barrier to employment and education. Among single mothers using paid child care, 82% reported difficulty making a payment in the prior 12 months, and 64% said they had to quit a job, turn down work, or significantly change their employment because of child care challenges. That figure rose to 76% among student parents.
“Our survey data show disproportionately high levels of material and economic hardship among this subset of single moms in the U.S. With significant cuts to SNAP and Medicaid eligibility on the horizon in 2026, we expect hardship to increase among single-parent led families with children, which may lead to adverse outcomes for both mothers and their children in the long-term,” said Elaine Waxman, Ph.D., Senior Fellow at the Urban Institute. “Single mothers face unique financial and caregiving pressures, and their families require intentional, tailored policy solutions to support their well-being and help them achieve their goals. At a time when safety net supports are dwindling and financial pressures are rising, it is all the more urgent to support the most economically vulnerable.”
Additional findings from Elevating Their Voices: What Single Mothers Say They Need to Survive also include:
- Housing hardship was nearly universal. 97% percent of respondents experienced some form of housing hardship in the past year.
- Food insecurity was widespread. Eighty-five percent reported food insecurity, including 53% with very low food security, meaning they regularly skipped meals or went without food.
- Child care affected employment. Sixty-four percent had to quit a job, turn down work, or change their employment because of child care challenges, a figure that rose to 76% among student parents.
- Many basic needs went unmet. Respondents most often cited finances (56%), career advancement (52%), and reliable child care (52%) as needs that were “sometimes” or “rarely” met.
- Student parents reported the greatest strain. Eighty-seven percent cited time management as a barrier to academic success, followed by finances (78%), child care (77%), and family or caregiving commitments (76%).
- Costs rose across essentials. Seventy percent reported higher housing-related costs and 69% reported higher grocery costs, with more than half reporting increases in healthcare, gasoline, health insurance, and child care.
Jeremiah Program has worked with single mothers pursuing economic mobility for nearly 30 years. Its two-generation model invests simultaneously in a mother’s education and career goals and in her children’s education.
The full report, Elevating Their Voices: What Single Mothers Say They Need to Survive, is available at jeremiahprogram.org.
About Jeremiah Program
Jeremiah Program (JP) is a national organization whose mission is to disrupt the cycle of poverty for single mothers and their children, two generations at a time. By investing simultaneously in a mother’s vision for her personal and professional goals and the education of her children, she simultaneously reauthors her family’s outcome as well her community’s. In 2026, JP is supporting over 5,000 moms and children across nine campuses and a growing coalition across 43 states. To learn more about Jeremiah Program, visit jeremiahprogram.org.
About the Report
Elevating Their Voices: What Single Mothers Say They Need to Survive was authored by Poonam Gupta, Baris Tezel, and Elaine Waxman of the Urban Institute’s Tax and Income Supports Division, and funded by Jeremiah Program. The survey was developed in consultation with Jeremiah Program and Share Our Strength, and received Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval. The full report is available at jeremiahprogram.org.