Whenever I come across an article like this I immediately get defensive, maybe it's my guilty conscience, or maybe it's that it spells out the obvious without offering any solution.

Sociologist Suzanne Bianchi of the University of Maryland is co-author of the study, which found that single mothers – most of whom do not have a post-secondary education – spent less quality time than do those who are married. Quality time was defined as activities beyond core care such as feeding and bathing.

Bianchi said in an interview yesterday that the primary factor was the "never married" mother was likely to work long hours at a low-wage job, because she was less likely to be college-educated or have any economic support from a partner.

At the same time, mothers with college diplomas, whether they were married or single, were able to secure better-paid jobs with working conditions commensurate with raising young children, Bianchi said.

"If they have higher educations, they can command more dollars."

Well, duh!!  How many sociologists does it take to figure out that life is hard for most single mothers?

The study, under doctoral student Sarah Kendig, the principal researcher, is reported in the December Journal of Marriage and the Family. It analyzed time-use diaries of more than 6,000 mothers, based on data from the American Time Use Survey between 2003 and 2004.

After eight years of trying to promote marriage as a way to resolve child poverty, Bianchi said the U.S. should refocus its energies on education as the key to economic security for mothers and children.

This shift would also provide the benefit of better parenting.

Wouldn't it be great if we could all get college degrees?  This must've been an easy A for the sociologists.  I'm not trying to put them down, I just don't get it.  This is not rocket science, single mothers have it rough.  Single mother families have been on the rise for decades, They act as though they've never met a single mother, or father for that matter.  How much research could it possibly take to realize that when you work all the time for little money, your energy is spent?  I don't think that promoting marriage as a way to combat poverty is exactly the way to go.  Especially when many single moms start out with the intention to do so anyway.

Single moms may be spending "less quality time" with our kids, but what time we do spend with them is precious.  I speak for myself and for many of my friends who are in the same boat.  You do what you can, and until this culture starts to recognize the importance a mother's role plays in society, as a  whole, single mothers are always going to have it rough.

The women conducting the study could've approached some of the more complex issues related to the plight of the single mom.  They could've used their higher education to explore different ways of improving the conditions for single mothers in todays world.  But instead they spent their energy on a condecending,  no-brainer "study."