Government’s treatment of single mothers and their children in India

Abstract

Today, feminism has taken a center stage in many of the social movements around the world. It holds true to a great extent in India too and it has succeeded in veering the government’s and the public’s attention towards equality and upliftment of women. Ironically, though, these movements have mostly aided the privileged women. The situation is still not significantly improved for women who have been victims of caste or class-based discrimination. The orthodox mentality of Indians towards single mothers, in particular, has remained largely unchanged, which is reflected in their plight. A woman can be single mother due to divorce, separation, her husband’s death, or being unwed by choice. It appears that even the government has remained neglected towards the welfare of single mothers, which consequently impacts their children too.