Raising a child is one of the most fulfilling things a parent can do. It’s also by far one of the most difficult. Photo credit: Wayne Evans/Pexels
Single parents struggle to balance work and their responsibilities to their children. For minority single parents, their struggle to balance work and home life is doubled.
Raising a child is difficult enough with the support of a partner. Ensuring that a child has all the essentials to succeed and is living the life they deserve is a colossal task.
Maricruz Garcia lost her husband when her child was three-year-old. The loss was devastating to her, his son and everyone who knew him.
Immigrating from Mexico, she came to the United States to build a new life for herself. During her early years in the United States, she had a daughter, Jeanette, and raised her on her own.
Living in Maywood, California, she worked to give her young daughter a good life so she could succeed.
“It was difficult to have enough money every month to pay bills and have enough left over to buy my kids clothes,” said Garcia.
“As a single mother, these responsibilities laid solely on my shoulders.”
Garcia eventually found herself in Las Vegas, seeing it as an opportunity to find a job.
Unfortunately, it was exceedingly difficult for her to find a job in the city.
“Jobs didn’t give me the time of day,” said Garcia. “It really felt like my gender and ethnicity made it difficult to find a stable job. Even when I did find a job, it felt as if the job I was doing didn’t value me as an employee. I felt disposable”.
Things eventually settled down for her. The young mother found a stable job, entered a relationship and held down the household while her daughter and son got through school.
“Sacrifices were definitely made,” Garcia said. “Looking back on it now, God definitely had my back.”
Much of her sacrifices came because of her status as a minority and her gender. These factors made it difficult for her to support both of her children.
“Even when I had found a stable job, I still had challenges that I had to confront there,” said Garcia. “A case of sexual harassment at work made it difficult for me to feel comfortable there. The job didn’t even address the case right away, I had to keep pushing them and making noise until they had no choice.”
Taymon Lawson, an aspiring model, also came from a household where his mother solely provided for him and his siblings.
“Psychologically, within ourselves, it feels like others are more intact with their emotions… When we’re raised in a single home, we don’t really know love,” said Lawson.
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