Explores how single mothers pursuing college degrees must navigate a difficult course as they attempt to reconcile their identities as single mums, college students, and in many cases, employees. They also negotiate a balance between what they think a good mother should be, and what society is telling them, and how that affects their choices to go to college, and whether to stay in college.

Acknowledgments
 

Prologue: Lessons from My Grandmother

1          The Politics of Single Motherhood in America

2          Trying to Make Ends Meet

3          Clocks and Calendars

4          Navigating America’s Child Care Crisis

5          Mothering Alone in a Chilly Climate

Conclusion
 

Addendum

Notes

Bibliography

JILLIAN M. DUQUAINE-WATSON is a senior lecturer in the School of Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Texas at Dallas.