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Single Mom Housing Article

Creating Your Own Affordable Single Mother Housing

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These days there is less and less affordable housing for everyone, but single mothers are impacted most. Unfortunately, the events that usually precipitate a status of single motherhood are either death or divorce. Other times, it can be that a parent must leave an abusive household for the safety of the children. Trying to adjust to the shock of the situation while obtaining housing when you are most disadvantaged can be the first of many juggling acts a single mother will be forced to do.

In the past, the Federal government was more involved in providing affordable single mother housing and elderly, low-income housing. There are still programs that help single parents to get housing assistance but they may be difficult to locate. So many families are beginning to learn how to create their own affordable single mother housing.

Extended Family Housing

In many countries, it's standard for families of more than one generation to live under the same roof. Only in America do we believe in the nuclear family to the detriment of the extended family. What we gain in privacy with a nuclear family, we lose in support by having an extended family living arrangement.

Live-in grandparents usually make wonderful baby-sitters and free the mother to work outside the home without exorbitant childcare costs. This is one arrangement that is beneficial to all involved if the family is low income. It provides a way for elderly people to remain important contributors to society while providing affordable single mother housing.

Renting Out Rooms

If you are a single mother who kept the house after a divorce, you're in luck. Most single mothers don't have this option. The biggest way to reduce housing costs is to share your household. Renting out a room in your home could mean the difference between making a mortgage payment or eventually going into foreclosure. Take advantage of the housing you do have and maximize it's potential for income as best as you can.

Single Mother Co-housing

This is a new option that is currently coming up. There is a non-profit organization called Co-Abode that matches up two single parent families so they can live together under the same household. If you are at the stage where you want to buy a house but don't have the income, they can help you to find someone to help go into the housing arrangement with you.

Women who choose this affordable single mother housing option tend to share care-giving roles with each other, thus recreating a support system that might have been lost through divorce.

One thing is certain, low-income housing is on the decline and Federal programs to assist in obtaining low-income housing are dwindling too. This is making it very difficult for single mothers who need affordable single mother housing. Taking matters into your own hand may be the wave of the future.