Single mothers in Latin America are working more, but still getting poorer

The number of households led by single mothers is growing across Latin America and the Caribbean. These mothers work more and receive more financial aid, but their households are still much poorer than average.

For years, social assistance programs in Latin America have not fully accounted for the specific challenges faced by single-mother households. This paper shows that even with higher work rates and more aid, these families are falling behind. Governments will now probably need to rethink how they target support to these households.