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The girls quietly climbed in the van.
Amy slammed the trunk close and
started the three day drive from Washington DC back to the Mountain West.
She had done it, she had finally left him.
After five years of living in constant fear that he might in some way hurt her or
her three girls, she had finally left him.
She thought about the challenges that lay ahead.
There had been emotional and psychological trauma for
her and her daughters Kira, Jessie, and Gabby.
But it was worth it to be able to raise her three girls
away from the addictions and abuse.
She had been to college, but it had been four and
a half years since she had last had a job and she never actually used her degree.
Amy qualified for food stamps and Medicaid.
These government programs were a lifeline but they were also a crutch.
To continue to qualify, she had to stay in a low paying job.
There was nothing to help her transition off of the government
assistance to a better life.
Amy was stuck.
Amy is not alone in her struggles as a single mother in this country,
there are over 11 million single parents in the United States.
Since over 80% of these are single mothers,
my talk is going to focus on their struggles.
Of course, everything that I shared today applies to all
single parents, mothers and fathers.
So you're probably thinking Dave, you're not a single parent.
Why are you talking about this?
>> [LAUGH] >> Because Amy is my fiance.
We first met when we were 18 years old.
We then went our separate ways for 12 years.
During that time, he got into a bad marriage and finally left four years ago.
Mutual friends brought us back together two years ago.
Finally this last Christmas, I asked Amy to marry me.
Because this relationship was more than just her and me,
I wanted Kiera, Gabi, and Jessie to be there for the proposal.
Then one at a time, I got down on one knee,
put a little ring on each of their fingers, and
asked them if I could be their dad.
They said yes!
>> [APPLAUSE]
>> I am the luckiest man in the world
to have these amazing girls in my life.
Hearing about Amy's struggles as a single mother has been so
frustrating because there's so much that can be done.
For this talk, I'm going to share all that I've learned about why single
mothers struggle to escape poverty and how college and childcare assistance can help.
There are four key numbers you should remember from this talk.
The first is 1 in 4.
One in four children in the United States is raised by a single mother.
This is in large part due to the growing trend of children being
born out of wedlock, divorce, and abandonment due to substance abuse.
More than a third of single mother households live in poverty.
For the second key number, $1.9 billion.
The government provides $1.9 billion in food stumps every year to single mothers.
That's a market size that make any eventual capitalist true.
These government programs do so
much to help these single mother get back on their feet.
Unfortunately, even though they are intended to be temporary,
there are no incentives to help people get off of them.
So I've leaned college is critical to help the single mothers escape poverty.
The Institute for
Women's Policy Research has done a ton of research on single mothers.
They have shown single mothers with a college degree,
get significantly better jobs, make more money, and have better health.
And all these benefits trickle down to their children as well.
Now for the third key number, $30,000.
$30,000 is the average net gain the government can get if
they were to help a single mother earn a bachelor's degree.
If the government ought to provide childcare assistance,
financial aid, and a case worker to the single mothers,
ultimately, they would come out ahead in the additional tax benefits and
tax revenue from the higher paying job for that single mother.
$30,000, and that's not even considering all
the benefits that come to the children of these single mothers.
The last piece of this puzzle is childcare.
For a mother to be able to go back to school,
she needs help raising her kids, but childcare is expensive.
On average,
a single mother will spend a quarter to a third of her income on childcare.
The government used to provide childcare assistance to single mothers while they're
in college.
But during the welfare reforms of the mid 90s,
the government stopped providing childcare assistance to students.
Enrollment of single mothers in college plummeted.
For those single mothers who have access to childcare assistance,
their likelihood of graduating on time triples.
Now for the final key number, 49%.
Only 49% of college campuses have childcare centers on campus.
There's a government program that helps support these child care centers, but
it's obviously not nearly large enough.
Now that I've shared these startling statistics with you,
we need to act on this.
Let's think about the single mothers in our life, and
make sure that they are welcomed on every college campus.
Every college campus should have a childcare center on campus.
Do you know if the GSB has childcare?
If not, ask the administration so that they know you care.
On top of the GSB, Stanford has childcare for both students and faculty.
For colleges that are so concerned about diversity and inclusion,
by not making it possible for single mothers to attend college,
they are missing out on this key group of individuals.
As a side note, we as future business leaders need to make sure it's
feasible for single mothers to join us in the workplace.
Second, support the single mothers in your life.
These amazing women have done so much to raise children and
taking on the parenting roles of two people.
Talk with them about those struggles and ask how you can help.
Finally, there needs to be a government policy change.
The government should provide childcare assistance and
other support to every single mother that's in college.
This financially and socially make sense.
So in conclusion, remember, there are four key numbers,
1 in 4, $1.9 billion, $30,000, and 49%.
That 49% should be 100%.
So what's the rest of Amy's story?
Amy is getting her masters in public administration and
is working for a government city management office.
She didn't have access to childcare through her college but
luckily her parents helped her take care of her girls.
Amy wants to help undeserved single mothers gain access to college and
a childcare.
She and I are working on a non-profit to push for
these initiatives as well as push for government policy change.
In her words, I don't see this as a hand out but
as a hand up so that single mothers are on an equal playing field.
Single mothers like Amy are raising many of the future generation and
they deserve a fair chance.
Thank you.
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