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Single mothers that live below the poverty line are often a target in pointing out that they are “bad mothers�. However, this is a big typical stereotype that shouldn’t be there in the first place. How does a person or the government judge whether a mother is a bad mother just by her status/class? And what defines a bad mother? Just because she may not have that much money does not mean that she is not providing the essentials that her child might need. Further, in the article “On Fixing ‘Bad’ Mothers and Saving Their Children� it argues that the mother may love and care for her child deeply but may not have the resources to take care of the child, but does that mean that the child must be taken away? It seems that there are many factors that go into making these mothers seem like “bad mothers� but if we help to reduce even some of these issues we can help these mothers gain greater access to the means necessary for social survival.

One big issue is whether these women are working to get enough money to take care of themselves and their child. A mother must be stable on her own to even take on a child. We must make sure that these women are working and are using the money in the right sense, not wasting it on alcohol or other unnecessary expenses. To do so there should be some sort of child care opportunities so that these mothers will not have to be as stressed to take care of their child before taking care of themselves. This way the mother will have time to look for job opportunities so that she may get back on her feet. We need to make sure that jobs are easier for single mothers especially to find and they will not be discriminated against because of their status.

Secondly, the whole system of DCFS needs to be reconstructed somehow. “On Fixing ‘Bad’ Mothers and Saving Their Children� had expressed that often times mothers are trying to get back on their feet and be the mother that they have always wanted to be, but it’s partially the systems fault in keeping these “bad mother’s� in the same bad lifestyle. The system needs to have a new outlook on trying to save not only the children but also the mothers. When dealing with a mother/child pair one person should be looking after them, getting to know them and helping them throughout the process, observing and seeing the positive changes. If there are no positive changes then the worker needs to perhaps help more or change the way in which help is being provided or the areas in which help is necessary. In the example stories in “On Fixing ‘Bad’ Mothers and Saving Their Children� it seemed that help was not often wanted because it would just make things worse for the family and it was also a struggle for the mother’s to prove that they were indeed changing for the better. If even these areas were improved, many families would be happier and on their way towards a better lifestyle and future.

Overall, yes there are many areas in which improvement on single women below the poverty line can be changed. However, these changes don’t just happen overnight. By helping to create better child care and job opportunities, as well as improving the system of DCFS by making help be a desire for single mothers, these steps can dramatically affect the lives of these mothers and their children.