Our Focus - Brightway Education Foundation

Our Focus

12M+ people in single mom-led families live in poverty in the U.S.

For these moms life is a daily struggle to pay the rent, to feed their families, to get to work and keep their jobs, to make sure their kids are safe and in adequate childcare.

The research is clear and compelling: growing up in poverty profoundly affects children’s neurological, cognitive, social and emotional development—key factors that perpetuate the cycle of poverty across generations.

1/3 to 1/2 of children who live in poverty for a substantial part of their childhood will live in poverty as adults.

The longer a child lives in poverty before age 15, the higher the likelihood they will remain in poverty as an adult.

Earning a college degree is a clear path out of poverty.

Institute for Women’ Policy Research analysis of data from 2013-2017 American Community Survey, Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (Version 9.0)

Brightway is helping single moms break the cycle of intergenerational poverty through earning a college degree.

Approximately 1.7M single moms are pursuing a college degree.

Yet they face overwhelming challenges:

88% of single moms in college struggle with incomes at or near the federal poverty line.

1/3 of their annual income goes to childcare alone.

9 hours per day are spent caring for children and managing households while trying to study.

The result: only 8% of single mom students complete their associate or bachelor’s degree within 6 years, compared to 49% for women without children.

There are proven ways to change this reality.

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Sources

“We greatly value Brightway’s leadership, expertise, and funding in helping our low-income student parents complete their college education, which is essential for many families to realize economic mobility.”

– Donna Linderman, Senior Vice Chancellor of Student Success at SUNY