It didn’t take a miracle for critics to spot the bias buried in a 1,000-page behemoth. Last week’s 215-214 House vote on President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” edged forward—but not without exposing an awkward truth: single parents get the short end of the stick.
A Two-Tiered Work Requirement
At the heart of the controversy is a new rule for SNAP (food stamp) recipients. Parents with school-age kids—7 to 17—must now clock 80 hours of work or training each month. Sounds straightforward? Not when married couples only need one parent to meet that target. Single parents, overwhelmingly mothers (they fill about 80% of those households), must juggle it all alone. Can you imagine trying to land enough hours when there’s a school concert to attend, homework to help with, and a sick day looming?
Who Gets a Free Pass?
Exemptions are generous—but oddly selective:
- Homeless individuals
- Veterans
- Pregnant women
- People under 18 or over 64
See the pattern? Pregnant moms can breathe easy. Married parents can tag-team. But solo parents? They’re left scrambling.
Carolyn Vega of Share Our Strength aptly points out that some caregivers simply can’t hold down a job while taking care of their kids. Yet the bill’s leniency stops at the marital threshold. Weird, right?
The Real-World Impact
I’ve seen it firsthand: losing even a sliver of benefits can send a family spiraling. Though children often stay eligible for SNAP, the adult’s cut can whittle away at grocery budgets, turning dinner tables from plentiful to precarious. It feels a bit like offering candy to a child while emptying their piggy bank.
Ed Bolen from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities didn’t mince words: “Subjecting a single mom to having to go work while the mom who’s married down the street doesn’t have to really shines the light on how inequitable and unfair this is.” He’s spot on.
Trump’s White House argues this bill encourages people to stay home to raise kids—mostly women, ironically. In a Mother’s Day address, the president spoke of “the highest standard of living on Earth on a single income.” Charming in theory, but in reality? It pins the burden on women who don’t have a spouse waiting with a steady paycheck.
What do you think? Have you felt this policy pinch your family budget?
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Back to school, mom? Here’s how to crush it solo.
Sources:
- www.newsweek.com/snap-changes-trump-bill-adds-new-burdens-millions-women-study-2105160
- www.ndtv.com/world-news/how-donald-trumps-big-beautiful-bill-discriminates-against-single-parents-8530289
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