Worcester Among Nation's Best Cities For Single Parents

All the struggles parents face are doubled for single parents, from juggling a job with kids’ schedules to finding downtime for themselves. This is especially true for those without a network of nearby friends or family to help in a pinch.

This is especially important today, because more kids than ever are living with a single parent. According to the Pew Research Center, about 21 percent of American kids live with a single mom and another 4 percent with a single dad. In 1968, those numbers were 12 percent for moms and 1 percent for dads.

On top of that, a new report shows that where single parents live plays a role in how well they are able to cope. And fortunately, cities in Massachusetts, where there are strong laws on family leave and other workplace protections, are better than most for single parents and their families. That’s according to MagnifyMoney, which this week published its report on the best places to raise a family as a single parent.

The report looked at four key factors: income, affordability, time and workplace protection to determine its rankings. Some of the metrics they looked at include median income, share of households living below the poverty line, income limits for child care assistance disparity, average commute time, average hours worked each week and statewide paid family-leave insurance.

Of the country's 100 largest metro areas, Worcester ranked 7th, with an overall score of 58.7. Here’s what the study found:

• Income score: 58.7 (average is 51.48)
• Median income of single parents: $35,185 (average is $31,452)
• Difference between single parent income and all households: -48.5 percent (average is -47.4 percent)
• Share of single parents living below the poverty line: 33.8 percent (average is 39.2 percent)
• Affordability score: 47.4 (average is 44)
• Regional price parity: 103.6 (average is 98.38)
• Time score: 48.5 (average is 49.89)
• Workplace protection score: 80 (average is 16.8)
• Paid family leave in weeks per year: 12 (average is 1.82)

The best of the 100 cities to be a single parent, according to the report, is Springfield, MA, and Boston is 19th.

Springfield scored a 65.2 overall, even with an income score below the average of the other cities. The median income for single parents in the city is about $28,433 and 43 percent of single parents there live below the poverty line.

But Springfield scored much better in affordability, time and workplace protection, with scores of 59.1, 79.1 and 80, respectively. Massachusetts families get 12 weeks of paid family leave and 24 hours per year of protected time off for school events, both much higher than the average.

Here are the 10 best places to be a single parent and the overall score they received:

1. Springfield, MA — 65.2
2. Sacramento, CA — 62.2
3. Buffalo, NY — 61.5
4. Albany, NY — 59.7
5. Fresno, CA — 59.2
6. Syracuse, NY — 59.1
7. Worcester, MA — 58.7
8. Rochester, NY — 58.2
9. Oxnard, CA — 57.7
10. Spokane, WA — 57.2

Several big cities were ranked among the worst cities to be a single parent, including Houston, Atlanta, Detroit, Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus.

Houston ranked as the single worst place to be a single parent with a putrid score of 26.7. That includes a score of 0 for workplace protection, as families receive no paid family leave or protected time off for school events despite working an average of 40 hours a week.

MagnifyMoney is a personal finance site that aims to help people live financially healthier lives. The researchers limited the report to just the 100 largest metropolitan areas and gathered the data from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2017 American Community Survey five-year estimates.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.