Trend Spotting: Single Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day is not a Hallmark Holiday. It’s celebrated throughout the globe in different ways and at different times of the year.

In the US, Mother’s Day remains a perennial institution that goes back over a century even as our concept of family, femininity, and motherhood has evolved over time.

There is a growing cohort of single mothers by choice (by definition, mothers without a cohabiting partner).

These mothers tend to be over 30, are well-educated, and have the financial means to live a comfortable life as a single-parent family. This makes them an ideal cohort from the marketing point of view, particularly given their unique (unmet) needs.

Given the fact that this is a growing trend, this is a cohort marketers cannot ignore.

More bullet points for the list (updated).

Add these to yesterday’s list:

• Baltimore rioter turned himself in, but family can’t afford $500,000 bail. 
• Officer Caesar R. Goodson Jr, the driver of the police van, faces the most serious charges, including second degree murder charges. His bail was set at $350,000.

For the times are they a-changin’? (or “Why I’m not impressed.”)

Then: (1974)

• Richard Pryor “Niggers Vs. Police”

Now:

• Eric Garner (killed Thursday, July 17, 2014 – 43 years old)
• Michael Brown (killed Saturday, (August 9, 2014 – 18 years old)
• Walter Scott (killed Saturday, April 4, 2015 – 50 years old)
• Freddie Gray (killed Tuesday April 12, 2015 – 25 years old)
• Freddie Gray’s Death Ruled a Homicide (today)

Yet:

• FBI admits flaws in hair analysis over decades
• Hundreds of police killings are unaccounted for in federal statistics
• Blacks = 13% US population
• Blacks = 40% of US prison population
• The new Congress is 80% white

So: For the times are they a-changin’?

NOTE: A more exhaustive list of unarmed Black men killed by police can be found here.