Being mum
The Documentary Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 8 June 2021
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Are children always better off in a two-parent family? Ateira Griffin, daughter of a single mother and the director of non-profit organisation that supports black single mothers and their daughters, explores what it is like for a family to be headed by a mum without a dad, a family structure that is on the rise in her native United States. In fact children in single mum households account for half of all African-American kids growing up in America and Ateira explores the context for this historically and in terms of contemporary social policy.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Single motherhood has actually become the norm in this country. |
| 0:05.0 | Being a single mother is a blessing. |
| 0:08.0 | It has its days where it's trying, but it's a blessing. |
| 0:11.0 | Almost 70% believe that single women raising children on their own is bad for society. |
| 0:17.0 | I think society does blame women a lot. |
| 0:20.0 | Single moms, we get the brunt of it all. |
| 0:22.0 | Households headed by single moms are... Single moms, we get the brunt of it all. |
| 0:22.8 | Households headed by single moms are four times as likely to be poor |
| 0:27.1 | as families headed by married couples. |
| 0:29.3 | Single moms, they live for their kids, |
| 0:31.8 | and they do for their kids. |
| 0:34.0 | Children in a two-parent family do better at school and later in life. |
| 0:38.0 | Trying to find the ocean. |
| 0:41.0 | My daughter does already know. You can do anything you want to do. |
| 0:44.0 | And they have an example of every day when they wake up. |
| 0:48.0 | Ain't nowhere to run to. This program is all about single moms. It's a diverse group and one that's growing. |
| 0:57.0 | This program is all about single moms. |
| 1:01.0 | It's a diverse group and one that's growing, certainly here in the |
| 1:05.0 | United States, but I think it's also a misunderstood group. This is |
| 1:10.8 | being mom for the BBC World Service. I'm a Tierra Griffin and I've got a stake in this issue |
| 1:18.6 | I'm the daughter of a single mom and I founded a nonprofit organization in my home city of Baltimore, which supports |
| 1:25.9 | black single moms and their daughters. Oh, for the most. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.