how does out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure by single mothers relate to income loss?

LITERATURE AND DATA ANALYSIS- PAPER 2

Overview of Research

Single parents and their children often have poor health and poor social results. From the 1960s, the number of children staying with single parents, specifically mothers, has doubled. According to the Census Bureau (2019), single mothers represented 30% of families with children in the United States. In the US, the most common arrangement is for a child to live with both its parents, but in case of divorce or separation, single mothers end up taking the children’s full custody. Single-mother families have critical healthcare implications, and Single-mother families face more significant threats of poverty and economic issues. For instance, a study in 2020 revealed that poverty levels in single-mother families were 31% higher than in both-parent families. Among employees, single mothers are more likely to be poor and are more likely to be uninsured than mothers from two-parent families. The poverty levels and lack of health insurance result in higher rates of unattended health needs in single-mother families instead of both-parent families.

ACA (Affordable Care Act) was enacted in 2010. It increased health insurance to the citizens, restricted rescinding insurance plans, and restricted the enforcement of yearly and lifetime deadlines on health advantages. ACA also brought about revenue-related premiums and cost-sharing deductions and called coverage for vital healthcare. Despite the ACA enactment, the initiative failed to deliver its promises to families. To date, a significant number of Americans are straining to cater to their healthcare needs out-of-pocket. Therefore, the research question for this paper is; how does out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure by single mothers relate to income loss? Additionally, the research answers to; do the income losses compromise the health welfare of single-mothered families?