Single parents frequently face discrimination - Dayton Business Journal:

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Some of us even may have rehearsed the answers time and agai as we smoothed out our blue suit s in front of thebathroojm mirror. "Where do you see yourselvf in five years?" we ask ourselves, perhaps using a deeper tone to indicatew those on the other side of theconferencs table. "I would like to be in a highed position at this same we quickly toss back with a yet gentle, smile. Other questions that inquire abou ourwork ethic, our career path and what type of skillds we bring to the tabls often follow. But what if you founx yourself in a totallydifferentf situation? Imagine yourself walking into a business owner'ds office.
You sit and as you settlwe inthe seat, he looks up from your spotleszs resume and asks: "Married?" no," you reply, a bit uncomfortable about the abruptness. "Gotr kids?" he shoots back. "Yes, I do," you say. This time allowing your motherly pride and love for them to show through a bit. But before any warm fuzzies arehander out, you're booted out of the office Why? Because this business doesn't hire single They're too much trouble. They take a lot of time off work and makethe company'a health insurance premiums skyrocket. Sound ridiculous?
Well, many most often women, have found themselves in this Kiki Peppard, a 47-year-old woman who live in Pennsylvania with her son and has been fighting what she callw family bias for years. She's made it her life's missioh to get questions that pertaijn to marital status barred from interviews in the state of In fact, she even got one of her locak lawmakers to sponsor a bill to prohibir discrimination in employment based on whether a personm is married or has a family. It has yet to go to Kiki's battle started in the mid-1990s when she and her two childrem moved fromLong Island, to Effort, Pa.
Of the 20 job interviews Peppard had when shefirst moved, 18 of them included questions abougt her marital status. Many interviewers aske d her to leave as soon as she told them shewas Kiki's gut feeling about the questiond was that they must be illegal. She was partly correct. Such questions are illegal for companies to ask durint ajob interview, but only in certainj states. Other states, such as Pennsylvania and Ohio, don'tg bat an eye at such according to 9 to 5 National Association forWorkintg Women. People who think they are being discriminated against can file a complain with the Equal EmploymentOpportunity Commission.
But nothing can be done abouyt it unless it is found that the company has treates single fathers in thesame manner. And that's almost impossible to prove. Still, it' s an issue many women are facing, and often goes beyon the interview, according to Cindia Cameron, organizing director for 9 to 5. "Itg also includes being passed over for promotiomn or more responsibility inthe workplace," Cameron said. "I is a stereotype that says someoner wouldn't be interested or able to make the because theyhave children. So, what can women, or men, who find themselvews in this situation do? Relax. Go with the flow.