Single mothers face many challenges in managing their multiple roles, including lack of time and feelings of role strain. Using data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, this study examined whether employment was associated with difficulty obtaining health care in single mothers with young children. Although employment was not associated with increased difficulty obtaining health care (odds ratio = .56, p = .195), when every person in single-mother households had full-year health insurance coverage, the likelihood of difficulty obtaining health care was significantly reduced (odds ratio = .33, p = .008). Overwhelmingly, women attributed the primary difficulty of obtaining health care to affordability rather than lack of time or the inability to take time off work. These findings indicate that having health insurance is critical to reducing barriers to care for single-mother families and that affordability is the primary barrier to care for single-mother families that lack health insurance.
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