Narrating Single Motherhood: What Does It Mean to Be a Single Mother?

Status transitions such as divorce challenge those who undergo them to revise or reformulate identities lined to statuses no longer held. This study focuses on the identity work of recently divorced mothers of dependent children. Participants were solicited from those attending a “singles’ group” designed for adults with children sponsored by a large evangelical church located in the southeast. The women’s identity work occurred within a religious context that emphasized the desirability and sanctity of marriage. The researcher both participated in the group and conducted phone interviews with eleven of the mothers in the group. Identity ambiguity and identity limbo were sensitizing concepts used by the researcher. Data collection and analysis were parallel rather than sequential activities. The analysis yielded four themes; juggling of demands, shortage of resources, pride in good mothering, and ambivalence about the single mother identity. The women resisted the label and identity of single mother until they encountered some positive consequences associated with the designation. Overall, embracement of the single mother identity remained situationally specific.