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The movies tell us all about the single mom: She's young, harried and hassled, running around from here to there haphazardly, juggling work, kids and romance, and trying to make it on her own. At least that's how the Hollywood story goes.
But real statistics indicate otherwise. Today, there are about 10 million single mothers with children younger than 18 in the U.S., but they are older (average age, 39) and almost one-third have the support of a live-in partner. They do tend to have lower household incomes than their married counterparts, but most of them, about 80%, are working moms.
Why should single moms even matter to marketers? They're certainly not the majority of women in the U.S. But consider this: About 40% of all children are born to single mothers today. The trend of single motherhood isn't slowing, and these women influence not only the children they're raising, but also their peers, thanks to technology, and their extended families, thanks to their participation in the growing trend of multigenerational households.
"That old fashioned idea that a single mother is someone who got pregnant by accident or didn't want a child is just not true anymore. These days there are plenty of single moms by choice," said Dana Points, editor in chief of Parents/American...