Raising Children Alone in Latin America and the Caribbean: Strong Mothers and Weak Social Assistance

Laura Cuesta, Jacobus Joost De Hoop and Hugo Rolando Nopo Aguilar

No 11351, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: Studies across countries find that single-mother households are socioeconomically disadvantaged. However, the heterogeneity of these households is regularly overlooked in the literature, with lone-mother households (with only one female adult) frequently undifferentiated from households in which a single mother lives with other adults. Using the Socio-Economic Database for Latin America and the Caribbean, this paper examines lone-mother households across 15 countries, focusing on the prevalence of lone motherhood, socioeconomic characteristics and outcomes, and the role of social assistance in improving the economic well-being of these households. Among households with children, the share of lone-mother households is steadily increasing. The same holds for the share of children growing up in lone-mother households. Lone mothers have higher labor force participation and are more likely to receive private and public transfers than women who raise children with other adults. Yet, at 45.5 percent, lone-mother households have comparatively high poverty rates in a region where the overall poverty rate is 26.8 percent. The findings have implications for social policy and future research.

Date: 2026-04-13
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