Embrace Mothers: More Than a Notion

“If you’re a mom, you’re a superhero. Period.” — Rosie Pope

Here is a statistical fact: In the City of Birmingham, there are 34,407 families that include at least one child under 18 years of age; of that number, 19,554 are headed by single women. In other words, single women head roughly three of every five Birmingham households with children (56.8 percent, to be more precise).

With that in mind, let’s consider a few more facts:

· Women make up about half of America’s workforce — but they are 70 percent of the population whose jobs pay less than $10 per hour.

· Women are more than eight times as likely as men to work in jobs that pay poverty-level wages.

· Women — most particularly, women of color — are more likely to live in poverty and far more likely than men to work in jobs that lack access to sick leave and health care benefits.

· Women in the workforce tend to carry greater responsibilities than men in supporting their parents and extended families, which further undercuts their economic stability.

· Underscoring the economic gap, single white men account nearly six times more wealth than single Black women.

· The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the economic fragility of most American households, with disproportionate impacts on Black and brown people — most particularly women.

Addressing these and other issues that have contributed to the persistence of racial, gender, and income inequalities is a top priority of my administration. That’s why we launched the Embrace Mothers pilot program, which will provide 110 single female heads of families with a guaranteed income of $375 per month for a 12-month period.

Embrace Mothers is a partnership with Mayors for a Guaranteed Income (MGI), a national network of mayors advocating to provide Americans with an income floor. MGI awarded Birmingham a $500,000 grant for our pilot program, part of a nationwide research project to evaluate the impacts of guaranteed income on individuals and families.

Participating cities had a choice on which populations to focus. I chose to support single mothers. Birmingham’s single mom’s make up nearly 60 percent of the households with children and we know that they experienced a disproportionate burden during the pandemic.

Put simply, women — most specifically, mothers — are the bedrock of Birmingham, the nucleus of our families and our community. By putting financial resources directly into the hands of single mothers, we enhance their economic stability, giving them the opportunity for improved outcomes for themselves, their families, and the city at large.

My proposal for the Embrace Mothers program was approved by the Birmingham City Council in October 2021. On January 31, we opened a one-week application period for the program, conducted online, with applications available in both English and Spanish.

The application process was run by Abt Associates, the research partner of MGI. Abt Associates is also responsible for the randomized selection of participants in the program, with the selection process now underway. The city will have no knowledge of who is selected for the program, though we will receive regular updates on its progress.

In addition to the 110 participants in our pilot program, Abt Associates will select another 132 women to participate in a control group that, while not receiving monthly guaranteed income payments, will complete surveys conducted throughout the pilot to assist in evaluating its impact. Control group members will be compensated for their participation with a $30 gift card for each survey they complete (pilot participants receiving payments will also complete the surveys and receive gift cards).

Response to the opportunity to participate in the Embrace Mothers program was overwhelming. When our application process closed on February 7, we had more than 8,000 applicants for the 110 slots available. What’s more, over 19,000 women at least started an application during the one-week period — a figure equivalent to nearly 100 percent of the city’s total population of single female heads of household.

In a very real sense, the volume of response was encouraging. It demonstrates the strong desire of Birmingham’s single mothers to do all they can to support their families and seek out opportunities for greater economic stability.

“She has to have four arms, four legs, two hearts and double the love. There is nothing single about a single mother” — Unknown

At the same time, the response to the Embrace Mothers pilot caused me to pause and reflect on the magnitude of the challenges single mothers face — and on the critical need for the city, along with partners throughout the community, to provide this and other programs in support of single moms.

What we are doing with Embrace Mothers is only a beginning, an initiative that should spark the question, in all corners of our city, What’s next? We must continue to establish policies, enact programs, and build partnerships that enhance the dignity of individuals, help them optimize their value as members of the community, and create and perpetuate a climate for transformative economic, gender, and racial justice.

It is my hope that the Birmingham Women’s Initiative (BWI) will help lead the way in advocating for women and children in our city. This group was established in 2020 at my direction to help elevate the quality of lives of women and children in Birmingham. Thirty-one individuals are serving on the inaugural core leadership team for a two-year term.

BWI members were early contributors in shaping the Embrace Mothers pilot. It is my hope that, through their future efforts and the support of residents and public and private partners, even more can be done for Birmingham women.

The benefits are a given. This project is not being undertaken in a vacuum, but on the basis of academic evidence and on-the-ground results demonstrating that a guaranteed minimum income removes barriers to full-time employment and creates capacity for setting goals and taking risks necessary to improving economic stability and well-being. Embrace Mothers is an investment in the future of Birmingham, working hand-in-glove with other programs and initiatives to offer our citizens more and better opportunities for a good life.

For me, the bottom line is this: When women succeed, families succeed. Embrace Mothers is step toward building stronger, healthier households throughout Birmingham — and, in meeting that goal, building a stronger, healthier city. This is our path to a prosperous future, and I am committed to doing everything within my power to ensure that we achieve that.

“When things get tough and the road gets dark, I just think of my Mama. I think: do it for Mama.” — Mayor Randall Woodfin

Randall L. Woodfin serves as the 30th Mayor of the City of Birmingham. Read and watch his 2022 State of the City address here.