Bill Text: CA SCR21 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Chaptered

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Bill Title: Single Parent Day.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Passed) 2015-04-27 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Res. Chapter 31, Statutes of 2015. [SCR21 Detail]

Download: California-2015-SCR21-Chaptered.html

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BILL NUMBER: SCR 21	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER  31
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  APRIL 27, 2015
	ADOPTED IN SENATE  MARCH 19, 2015
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 23, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Jackson

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2015

   Relative to Single Parent Day.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SCR 21, Jackson. Single Parent Day.
   This measure would proclaim March 21, 2015, as Single Parent Day.




   WHEREAS, On March 21, 1984, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed the
first "National Single Parent Day" and the Congress has designated
each March 21st thereafter in commemoration of single parents; and
   WHEREAS, President Reagan, in his proclamation, recognized that
single parents can and do provide children with the financial,
physical, emotional, and social support they need to take their
places as productive and mature citizens. He further noted, that with
the active support of friends, relatives, and local communities,
they can do even more to raise their children in the best possible
environment; and
   WHEREAS, Single parenthood is very common in the United States. At
a given time in 2013, 28 percent of children were living with a
single parent. One-half or more of today's children will likely spend
at least part of their childhood in a single-parent family; and
   WHEREAS, Most single parents are single mothers. In 2013, 77
percent of single parents were single mothers, and 85 percent of the
children living with a single parent were living with their mother;
and
   WHEREAS, The majority of single parents have been married or are
married but separated. In 2013, 55 percent of the children in
single-parent families were living with a parent who was separated,
divorced, or widowed, and 45 percent with a never-married parent; and

   WHEREAS, Most single parents have no more than two children. In
2013, 56 percent of single parents had one child and 30 percent had
two children; and
   WHEREAS, Low wages are very common for United States single
parents, and much more common for single parents than for other
United States workers. In 2009, 39 percent of employed single mothers
were in low-wage employment, with low wage defined as an hourly wage
less than two-thirds of the median hourly wage; and
   WHEREAS, Single parents struggle to pay for child care. In many
cases, the average cost of child care is out of reach for a single
parent, especially for those with two or more children; and
   WHEREAS, The poverty rate for children in single-parent families
is triple the rate for children in two-parent families. In 2012, 42
percent of children in single-parent families were poor, compared to
13 percent of children in two-parent families; and
   WHEREAS, Child poverty is linked to poor health and school
dropout; to negative adult outcomes including joblessness, and to
reduced economic output estimated to be about 4 percent of the Gross
Domestic Product; and
   WHEREAS, The employment rate for single parents in the United
States is above the average single-parent employment rate in
comparison to high income countries. Despite the above average
employment rate, the poverty rate for single-parent families in the
United States is far above the average poverty rate for single-parent
families in comparison to high income countries; and
   WHEREAS, National Single Parent Day was created to honor and
recognize the hard work, devotion, and sacrifices of single
parenting; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That Saturday, March 21, 2015, be observed as
Single Parent Day; and be it further
   Resolved, That the California Legislature encourages all
Californians to recognize the value and contributions provided by
single parents; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.