The Load and Power of Single Parents: Determining Factors in the Ability to Succeed at Adult

Learning

ED6153 Adult Development

Deborah Long

University of New Brunswick

December 10, 2018

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The Load and Power of Single Parents: Determining Factors in

the Ability to Succeed at Adult Learning

Although single parents have the desire and drive to improve their career prospects

through adult education, undertaking the task can prove more difficult in the execution than in

the planning. As exemplified by the challenging experiences of many single parents when

attempting to pursue professional development, single parents must find a delicate balance

between many challenging life factors to be successful. In the following paragraphs, a summary

of McClusky’s theory of margin will be provided and related to research articles that identify and

describe typical barriers single parents encounter in their pursuit of education, to demonstrate

single parents have significant issues involving finances, time, and family support that limit the

educational opportunities upon which they can take advantage to achieve their educational goals.

McClusky’s Theory of Margin

Hiemstra (1993) succinctly summarizes McClusky’s ‘Theory of Margin’ stating that

one’s ability to learn is bound by the relationship between ‘load’, or the demands of life; and

‘power’, the resources one has at their disposal to reduce the broader negative effects of their

load (p. 43). Concerned with finding ways to help adults maintain harmony between meeting the

obligations of daily life and their personal aspirations, McClusky (1970) posited an argument for

a push-pull relationship between life factors stating, "whatever the load and whatever the power

(up to a practical level), the crucial element is the surplus or margin of power in excess of load. It

is this margin that confers autonomy on the individual, gives him an opportunity to examine a

range of options, and enables him to reinvest his psychological capital in growth and

development" (p. 27). McClusky (1970) had theorized, based on his work with learners across
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the lifespan, if an adult learner is successful in maintaining the correct balance of power, the

adult learner will have the choice to pursue learning in any manner deemed appropriate (p. 146).

Barriers to Education

Utilizing McClusky’s theory to examine the barriers to education faced by single parent

learners, the following sections will provide evidence that demonstrates single parents have

significant issues involving finances, time, and family support that limit the educational

opportunities upon which they can take advantage to achieve their educational goals.

Financial Barriers

Reflecting on a peer’s experience as a mature student and single mother, the impacts of

the breakdown of a marriage and resulting financial strain highlights the importance of financial

load on the ability of single parents to be successful at adult education. In this case, financial

supports were not in place to support my peer’s goal of achieving a bachelor’s degree, which

resulted in her inability to continue on in her studies.

Unfortunately, the anecdotal account related above is not unique in the lives of single

parents engaging in education. In the year 2000, up to 25% of single- parented families lived in

poverty (Zhan, & Pandey, 2004, p. 662). When one examines the data around the demographics

of single parented families, households headed by women comprise the upper end of the scale

relating to household poverty. The reasons behind the lower economic status of many single

parent households are primarily structural with examples including shortages of job

opportunities, inadequate financial supports for the children, and a deficit in public benefits

available to assist with the expenses of raising a family (Zhan, & Pandey, 2004, p. 662).
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Some might argue that the inability of a single parent to finance education in addition to

other financial commitments is due to unwillingness on the part of the parent to hold full-time

employment, however, in a study on the educational achievements of single parent families,

Zhan and Pandey (2004) found that about 40% of poor single mothers and over 70% of poor

single fathers were already employed (p. 672). Concluding their study, Zhan, & Pandey (2004)

found that in order to increase the economic standpoint of single parent families, financial

resources devoted to promoting access to educational opportunities should be provided to single

parents (p. 672). Zhan and Pandey’s study links to McClusky’s theory with their conclusion that

financial load does have an effect on the ability to access education by single parents. Where

financial load outweighs financial power, the single parent gives education investment a lower

priority than the expenses associated with maintaining a family. Thus, the lack of financial power

has a negative effect on a single parent’s ability to pursue education.

Although a single parent’s engagement with educational opportunities requires the

associated financial means, in situations where a single parent learner is able to pay tuition,

textbook, and other administrative costs of attending education, there is also the consideration of

providing for childcare during the course of study.

Based on anecdotal evidence from my own experience as a single parent, full-time

daycare for one child of toddler age often amounts up to $1500 per month. Similarly, Herbst and

Tekin (2011) present data with an average cost of $4550 to approximately $18,750 for full-time

infant care in the United States, depending on the State (p. 901). Remarkably this higher end

figure exceeded the average annual tuition for four-year public college programs in 40 states

(Herbst & Tekin, 2011, p. 901). Consequently, child care expenses are an important

consideration for low-income families when deciding on the cost benefit of educational pursuits.
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By examining childcare expenses under the lens of McClusky’s theory, the financial load

of single parents is shown to increase as a result of the childcare expenses incurred while

learning. Because these expenses are brought about solely by the parent’s choice to attend

school, forgoing education is an option for a single parent to negate this financial load; albeit an

undesirable one.

Many municipalities provide childcare subsidies that increase the financial power of

single parents which has been shown to allow greater access to adult education by re-balancing

financial load vs. power. Herbst & Tekin (2011) present data that demonstrates a significant

amount of subsidy receiving single parents engage in education (p. 902). In areas where

childcare subsidy programs have been implemented, Herbst and Tekin (2011) show subsidy

receipt increases the likelihood that a single mother enrolls in educational courses by 13 percent

(p. 901). Specifically in Texas, 31% of children receive benefits that have allowed parents to

attend job training or educational programs (Herbst & Tekin, 2011, p. 902).

McClusky’s theory of margin is inherent in the provision of childcare subsidies because

they serve as a balancing factor in the relationship between power and load. Childcare subsidies

equalize the power/load equation in order to make the pursuit of education possible for those that

might otherwise be unable to study. By providing a cost effective approach to address the

financial load of child care “a subsidy increases the time available for human capital investment”

(Herbst & Tekin, 2011, p. 904).

Time Barriers

While the financial barriers that single parents face during learning are significant, the

demands on their time can also prove a barrier in the pursuit of education. Single parents who
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attend school experience limitations on the quality time available to spend with their children, as

well as, other important demands on their time. “These limitations are often compounded by the

need to work longer hours in order to provide for both the financial needs of the family and the

financial strains of education, in spite of available financial aid that cannot fully subsidize the

daily needs of a family” (Goldrick-Rab & Sorensen, 2011, p. 190).

In an analysis of survey data, Goldrick-Rab & Sorensen (2004) found that single parents

engaged in multi-year college programs are required to spend a majority of their time working

and caring for children (p. 190). One third reported spending more than 30 hours a week at work,

while an additional 17% percent spent between 20 and 30 hours a week working (p. 190).

Furthermore, 60% of the single mothers and 30% of the single fathers studied reported devoting

30 hours each week to childcare while attending school (p. 190). In addition, when exploring

statistics on the length of study and rate of completion of single parents in college, single parents

who engage in primary parenting duties while also participating in four year college programs

tend to take significantly more time to complete their studies, than students which have no such

constraints on their time (Goldrick-Rab & Sorensen, 2010, p.182).

Goldrick-Rab & Sorensen’s (2004) studies have shown that single parents who have to

spend more than 20 hours a week working are significantly less likely to remain in school and

complete their studies than those parents who are not required to work (p. 190). One participant

in the survey commented that not only is it difficult to find the time to study, the “constant

interruptions of the children for which you are caring makes devoting time to constructive study

almost impossible” (Goldrick-Rab & Sorensen, 2011, p. 190). To put the time constraints of

single parent in greater perspective, Goldrick-Rab & Sorensen (2011) found that only 48% of

single parents enrolled in full time studies worked at all (p. 183).
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McClusky’s concept of load is relevant to the time constraints of single parents because

the effects are substantial, making the effort required to participate in educational programs more

challenging than for those with few demands on their time.

Undoubtedly, married parents experience similar time barriers as do single parents,

however, there is more capacity for sharing of responsibilities and time commitments than

available to a single parent. In addition, because the financial benefits of increased levels of

education are often shared among spouses, it is more likely that the other parent will take on

childcare during educational endeavors undertaken by the other spouse. For single parents, the

alternatives are limited and if the learner does not have adequate family supports, they will have

greater challenges in securing low cost and readily available care during their study.

Family Support Barriers

The lack of family support is a seldom studied barrier in the pursuit of single parent

education and, although difficult to fathom, there are families that are not supportive of single

parent’s aspirations for educational enrichment. Often this lack of support is structural in the

family makeup, spanning several generations and ingrained as a learned attitude towards higher

education.

Lack of family support for single parents pursing adult education may be an engrained

culture along class lines. In Goldrick-Rab & Sorensen’s (2010) study on the dynamics of family

in the context of education, they found that first generation university students, who often

predominate in the single parent demographic, experienced tension within the family around

their college attendance (p. 189). One participant described a family atmosphere rife with envy

and misunderstandings around the learner’s motivation to participate in higher education. The
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family considered the educational pursuit not as life enrichment, but as the learner’s desire to

gain intellectual superiority over the remainder of the family (Goldrick-Rab & Sorensen, 2011, p.

189).

Comparably, Waller, Bovill, & Pitt (2011) found that working-class culture, where the

importance of university is less recognized, contradicted middle-class culture; in which

university involvement is automatically assumed (p. 513). In addition, the divide between

perceptions of higher education widened where firsthand experience of university life and its

benefits was less prevalent (Waller, Bovill, & Pitt, 2011, p. 513). Envy and jealousy can also

play a role, when successive generations are provided greater access to education through social

programs, than was available to those of the preceding generation. A particular participant in

Waller, Bovill, & Pitt’s (2011) study was in the position of having to make decide to either

sacrifice their studies or to continue striving for their own educational goals, with the risk of

further damaging the relationship with their parent (Waller, Bovill, & Pitt, 2011, p. 513).

In addition to parental relationships, there is also the potential for losses in terms of

intimate relationships. As suggested in Waller, Bovill, & Pitt’s (2011) work, change and

renegotiation of relationships between life partners often accompanies the decision of a parent to

pursue educational opportunities for both married and single parents, especially where the

woman becomes the student (p. 518). As found by Waller, Bovill, & Pitt (2011), the biggest risk

for female students in educational programs is the perceived threat to the traditional feminine

role of ‘housewife’ and/or ‘mother’, jeopardized by a change in status or sense of identity

resulting from study (p. 516).

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Decisions made to balance a single parent’s priorities between academics, family, or

traditional domestic duties often bring to the surface the presence or lack of family support

barriers when one decides to pursue education. Learners who do not have adequate support from

family can experience overarching feelings of anxiety that, should any unknowns arise, their

education may be at risk due to their lack of options available to balance any additional load.

Hiemstra (1993), quotes McClusky stating, "In the light of our theory, therefore, a

necessary condition for learning is access to and/or the activation of a Margin of Power that may

be available for application to the processes which the learning situation requires" (p. 45).

McClusky’s theory indicates that particularly for adult learners, radical changes in the load-

power ratio may take place due to declining financial resources, death of a spouse, and so forth.

Certainly, the value of family support cannot be overstated when it comes to educational

pursuits. The value in having a sense of encouragement and a support network during

educational study provides power to the learner in order to feel confident to follow through with

their education to completion.

Conclusion

Goldrick-Rab & Sorensen (2010) found that of United States College students who began

their study in 1995, 29 percent achieved their Bachelor’s Degree by 2001, compared with 5% of

single parents in the same lengths of program (p.182). This data indicates that single parent

students have factors at play that differentiate their experience from that of married or single and

childless students. The other works examined provide evidence of barriers that are unique to the

single parent demographic, when engaged in educational pursuits. The financial barriers to

education for single parents appear to have a greater load on the demographic than others, in
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regard to the effect on a learner’s ability to complete their education. Not only do single parents

lack the finances to engage in education, the time load of balancing work, study, and child

rearing also frustrates the efforts. Finally, the personal accounts of learners describing their lack

of family support demonstrates that single parent learners often come from class backgrounds

that place lower priority on education than learners originating from the middle and upper

classes.

When examining these barriers in relation to McClusky’s theory it is clear that one’s load

as a single parent is difficult to equate with the power required to capitalize on the wide variety

of educational opportunities available. The data and personal experiences examined above

validate the position that single parents have significant issues involving finances, time, and

family support; with impacts that limit the educational opportunities upon which a learner can

take advantage to achieve their educational goals.

A point of note is that this paper does not aim to ignore the similar struggles of married

learners in accessing education. Undoubtedly there are married learners who experience the same

financial, time, and family support constraints as single parent learners, however, the position of

this paper which is supported by the evidence presented, is that single parents are more likely to

lack the economic standing, time, and family network to access the same variety options for

educational advancement as married learners. Presently, the need for single parents to compare

the cost benefits of their educational aspirations against their load power ratio remains a

significant determining factor in the decision of single parents to engage in education.

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References

Goldrick-Rab, S. & Sorensen, K. (2010). Unmarried Parents in College. Future of Children, 20

(2), 179-203.

Herbst, C. & Tekin, E. (2011). Do child care subsidies influence single mothers’ decision to

invest in human capital? Economics of Education Review, 30 (5), 901-912.

Hiemstra, R. (1993). Three underdeveloped models for adult learning. New Directions for Adult

and Continuing Education, 1993(57), 37–46.

McClusky, H. Y. (1970). An approach to a differential psychology of the adult potential. In S.

M. Grabowski (Ed.), Adult Learning and Instruction. Syracuse, NY: ERIC Clearinghouse

on Adult Education.

Waller, R., Bovill, H., & Pitt, B. (2011) Parents, partners and peers: bearing the hidden costs of

lifelong learning. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 30 (4), 509-526.

Zacharakis, J, Marie., De Sabates, G., Glass, D. (2011) Understanding the Experiences of Adult

Learners: Content Analysis of Focus Group Data. Adult Basic Education & Literacy

Journal, 5 (2), 84-95.

Zhan, M., & Pandey, S. (2004). Postsecondary Education and Economic Well-Being of Single

Mothers and Single Fathers. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66 (3), 661-673.