And on a day set aside to honor and celebrate all mothers, it’s time to recognize that single moms are having a tough time in this economy:

• In 2010, single moms earned nearly $20,000 less than married men; just 59 cents to every dollar.  The wage gap between unmarried and married moms was nearly $10,000.

• In the year to October 2011, 66% of single mothers reported having trouble paying a bill on time. Only 40% of married mothers reported such an issue.[1]
• In the same year, 44% of unmarried mothers had difficulty paying their rent or mortgage.  About a third of married mothers report the same challenge (31% of married mothers).[2]
• 16% of unmarried mothers, compared to 9% of married mothers, reported going hungry in the same year because they could not afford food.[3]

Finally – as the number of unmarried moms has increased, so has the percentage of unmarried mothers who are not registered to vote.  In 2008, 34 percent of single moms were not registered to vote; in 2010, that number rose to 42 percent.  That’s means as single mothers become a larger part of our population they are becoming a smaller share of the electorate. That’s a disparity the Voter Participation Center is working to close this year in 29 states – because giving unmarried moms their voice in our democracy is the best Mother’s Day present we can give.

However, the news that’s not being covered today is the even wider gap between unmarried women and married men which is 65 cents according to the latest data available.  And the story that still needs to be told is about the marriage gap — the large and widening disparity in wages and economic security between married and unmarried women, the fastest growing demographic group in America today.

Unmarried women – women who are divorced, separated, widowed or have never married — are even more adversely affected by the wage gap than married women.  In 2010, unmarried women earned $31,928, compared to unmarried men who earned $34,216. Unmarried women earned almost $6,000 less than married women ($37,804) and a whopping $16,900 less than married men ($48,828).

And, according to the Center for American Progress’ examination of “Pay Equity and Single Women of Color,” the wage story is worse for single mothers:

“They make less than men, less than married women, and less than women without children. Adding race to the equation, single mothers of color are hit hardest by the wage gap. Studies show that single mothers of color are much more likely to live in poverty and face significant barriers to creating wealth…

Poverty rates are higher for single mothers of color compared to white single mothers and two parent households. In 2010 Hispanic and African American single mothers had poverty rates of 50.3 percent and 47.1 percent respectively—significantly higher than the national poverty rate at that time of 15.1 percent.”

The disparities go deeper.  A survey released late last year by the Institute of Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) made it painfully clear how tough this economy has been on unmarried women:

• In the year to October 2011, 66% of single mothers reported having trouble paying a bill on time. Only 40% of married mothers reported such an issue.
• In the same year, 44% of unmarried mothers had difficulty paying their rent or mortgage.  About a third of married mothers report the same challenge (31% of married mothers).
• 43 percent of unmmaried mothers compared to 29 percent of married mothers report not filling a prescription in the last year because they could not afford it.
• 16% of unmarried mothers, compared to 9% of married mothers, reported going hungry in the same year because they could not afford food.

These facts of life give truth to the lie to attacks on unmarried mothers as the new welfare queen, so comfortable and “cushioned” by government largesse, she would prefer to go without food, medicine and shelter –and get paid less in the bargain.

Unmarried women are twice as likely (17 percent) as unmarried women (8.8 percent) to have gone without health coverage in the last year.  More than one in four (26 percent) of unmarried women –women who are divorced, separated, widowed or who have never been married – say they have not gone to a doctor in the past year because of costs and four in ten (43 percent) say they have not filled a prescription because they did not have the money.

That’s why health care reform and the ACA are so vitally important to unmarried women. The Affordable Care Act provides a system of care for women throughout all life cycles and includes new preventive well-woman services of coverage.

The life-saving benefits that are already a reality for millions of unmarried women under the ACA include:

• coverage regardless of pre-existing conditions;

• allowing children to remain on their parents’ plans until age 26;
• banning gender discrimination in pricing for individuals and small businesses;

• emphasis on preventive care and wellness and improved access to a package of women’s preventive services, like mammograms and birth control, in all new health insurance plans without co-payments, minimum deductibles and at no additional costs.

While the law’s already benefitting millions of Americans — and many more will benefit in the years ahead as coverage expansions take effect — health reform is still at risk. Next week the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments about several of the law’s key provisions, including the public health and prevention components.  Clearly, while ACA is an accomplishment to celebrate, the fight is not over.

The new health care law does more than require coverage for preventative services like contraception, gynecological check-ups and mammograms.  It also requires insurance companies to cover people with pre-existing conditions and allows young people to stay on their parents’ policies until they reach 26.

So as the national debate heats up in the coming weeks and months, there is a reliable source created by doctors, nurses and pharmacists you can turn to for straight, non-political answers about the new health care law: http://www.healthcareandyou.org/

It’s clear now the Right means to demonize unmarried women and mothers this election. But they could be reaping the whirlwind by giving these women, who make up 25 percent of the electorate and tend to share progressive values, a reason to turn out this November.

First look at the trend:

Mother Jones has released a compilation of damning attacks from a leading Presidential candidate on unmarried mothers, blaming them in 1994 for ruining the county: “We are seeing it. We are seeing the fabric of this country fall apart, and it’s falling apart because of single moms [and] single-parent households simply breeding more criminals.”

And, as Lara Bergthold from the Lear Family Foundation and the Board of People for the American Way points out, this same candidate hasn’t stepped back from his claims.  “In October, he said that the Democratic Party’s support base is single mothers with a “desire for government.” At a GOP debate in December, he said that single moms aren’t marrying their boyfriends because they want to “keep on collecting welfare.”

In addition, a Wisconsin lawmaker has proposed legislation that would require the state to officially declare single parenting as child abuse. Republican Senator Glenn Grothman presented the bill which would require the Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board to conduct a public awareness campaign to emphasize that not being married is abusive and neglectful of children, and to underscore “the role of fathers in the primary prevention of child abuse and neglect.”

All this on top of Rush Limbaugh’s attack on an unmarried Georgetown University Law student for speaking out in favor of insurance coverage for contraceptives.

But these attacks could have powerful and unintended consequences:  there is already some evidence that the contraception debate has elevated the interest and engagement of single women in this year’s elections. According to the Salon’s Steve Kornaci, “It’s worth noting that single women tend to participate in elections at a lower rate than married women. The Voter Participation Center estimates that if turnout levels were equalized at the married rate, roughly 6 million new unmarried women would head to the polls. In demeaning an intelligent, well-spoken 30-year-old single woman, Limbaugh is doing his part to wake these non-voters up.”

And that could be a dangerous thing for the Right to do. If fully engaged, unmarried women have the potential to determine the outcome of 2012 races.  In 2008, Barack Obama beat John McCain by 41 points among single women. Since then their numbers have grown considerably. According to the U.S. Census, 55 million unmarried mothers will be eligible to vote this November.  The question now is how many will the Right send to the polls?

To view the articles listed above and read more visit: Mother Jones, KCCI – Des Moines’ Channel 8, and Salon.

Led by a resurgence and re-engagement of unmarried women, an increase in RAE enthusiasm and support has resulted in a significant shift in the national campaign landscape. One of the major reasons for the change is that the poll shows a major drop in negative feelings about the direction of the country and the economy and that is are shaping the mood going into 2012.

The marriage gap – the difference in voter participation and voting behavior between unmarried and married women also widened in this poll – which show s President Obama leading Presidential candidate Mitt Romney among unmarried women by a margin of 65 to 30 percent.  Married women favor Romney 51 – 42 percent.

Read Democracy Corps’ report here.

Right now,many Americans who make up the RAE – unmarried women, people of color and young people 18- 30 –and who constitute  the majority of eligible voters in our country are not registered or planning to vote this November.  But the President may have started a conversation that could catch their attention and lead to their increased participation in November.

The recession has hit the RAE hard: 46 percent of the RAE say they or someone in their family has faced reduced wages, hours or benefits at work. Women, particularly single mothers, have been particularly hard hit by the recession – they have been more likely to go hungry, miss a mortgage payment, or forgo a doctor’s visit because of costs.

VPC research shows job and skills training and lower tuition costs are very popular with the RAE and unmarried women particularly. So when President Obama made an example of Jackie Bray — a single mom from North Carolina who was laid off from her job as a mechanic, got skills training and a job as a result of a partnership between Siemens and Central Piedmont Community College, odds are he connected with unmarried women across America.  The challenge now is to keep the narrative focused on what happens to and helps the RAE directly.

Obvious, right?  But in 2010 lawmakers lost the narrative and failed to connect with these groups who showed up in record numbers in 2008, but stayed home in droves during the midterm elections.  Instead of talking about what motivated these voters —   the things that happen directly in their lives like unemployment extensions, pre-existing conditions, raising the minimum wage, education and job training, candidates talked about deficits, debt ceilings, and stimulus packages – issues that left these voters cold.

Tonight, President Obama has the opportunity to touch these voters where they live.  Creating jobs by revitalizing the manufacturing sector will resonate with RAE citizens.  Reminding Americans of our shared values of fairness and equal opportunity –and responsibility – will resound with them too. But what will really prick up their ears will be a call to increase job and skills training opportunities–especially for the long term unemployed.

The RAE has been hit disproportionately hard by the recession, and is having a slower recovery: The unemployment rate for single women climbed between June 2009 and December 2011 from 11.7 % to 12.9%; it went down for men, dropping from 9.9% to 8.0.  The December unemployment rate for African Americans was 15.8 and for Latinos, it was 11.0 – well above the national unemployment rate of 8.5%.

As Thomas Byrne Edsall warns in his new book,The Age of Austerity:How Scarcity Will Remake American Politics the Rising American Electorate that surged to the polls in 2008, may never show up again.  But that outcome will be a certainty unless elected officials, starting with the President tonight, begin a new conversation with the under-represented, under-registered majority of American voters.

According to the report, “Without equal voice in the electorate, the needs, interests and values of the Emerging Majority are not fairly represented in our democracy. This underrepresentation has ripple effects that impact everything from the legitimacy of institutions to the distribution of government services and responsibilities…Erasing the registration equality gap is only the first benchmark for increasing representation of the Emerging Majority in our democracy.”

The report concludes that the VPC and other groups reaching out to these demographic groups do have the power to change the composition of the electorate—and their efforts have long-term effects. “While the challenge of closing the registration equality gap is great, it is achievable. Voter registration groups have made significant progress when there has been investment of both human and financial resources in non-partisan voter registration efforts.”  That is especially true in presidential election years – when more people are paying attention, turnout programs become less impactful in terms of determining who is in the electorate when compared to registration efforts.