Other

BBC World Service

BBC World Service Radio

World Service Radio

The Documentary

Documentaries

Factual

Investigating global developments, issues and affairs.

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

BBC World Service East Asia

The Documentary: Being mum

Being mum

08/06/2021 GMT

BBC World Service - The Documentary, Being mum

Ateira Griffin challenges assumptions about black single motherhood

Ateira Griffin challenges assumptions about black single motherhood.

Are children always better off in a two-parent family? Ateira Griffin, daughter of a single mother and the director of non-profit organisation that supports black single mothers and their daughters, explores what it is like for a family to be headed by a mum without a dad, a family structure that is on the rise in her native United States. 

The label ‘single mum’ can provoke pretty strong reactions and judgements, especially for Black women and Women of colour. Statistics tell us that children of single mothers are less likely to do well at school and more likely to struggle with substance abuse or turn to criminal activity. Ateira challenges the assumptions and goes beyond the statistics, speaking to black single mothers in her home city of Baltimore. 

Baltimore on the East Coast of America has one of the highest rates of single mums – nearly 60% of households with children are led by single parents, and of those, the majority are Black single mums. In fact children in single mum households account for half of all African-American kids growing up in America and Ateira explores the context for this historically and in terms of contemporary social policy.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Documentary

Being mum

Genres

Brand

BBC World Service

About BBC World Service