There are a lot of single parents struggling to do whats right.I’ve worked with many of them. I won’t lump them in with the single parents who just do what they want and let the grandparents and the government worry about their children.
That's true. However, in most cases, the fact that these are pretty much decent people genuinely doing their best doesn't change the economics. A single mother, especially a never-married mother, is overwhelmingly likely to be in poverty and receiving benefits.
Good intentions also don't much affect the social and educational outcomes for their children, in the aggregate. The single mothers who model and enforce an intense work ethic and academic drive for their children are few and far between.
It would be interesting to know what percentage of single mothers are single mothers due to divorce, and due to out-of-wedlock births. Those are really two entirely different sets of circumstances, and the women in each group probably have a very different mindset and outlook.