Rising gas, food and other costs magnify struggles of raising children alone

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Single parents look for outside support to get through day-to-day.

Scheduling chaos

Though it's not the highest paying job, Cooper said, they're flexible in letting her attend school functions or taking her kids to the doctor if needed -- which in her case is a crucial benefit.

For Green that's simply not an option. Her 9-year-old son Christian has Klinefelter's syndrom and needs to attend summer school to keep up with his class, but because school transportation doesn't run during the summer and classes let out while Green's at work he's unable to go.

Even if it's after work, parents said, juggling schedules without a partner to pitch in takes skill and sometimes means having to tell children "no."

Kathy Hagler, who adopted her 7-year-old daughter as a single a few years ago, said she quickly learned the stress of trying to be there for her adoptive teenage son who was working his first job and getting home long after her daughter's 8 p.m. bedtime.

Childcare costs

Hagler's daughter attends Washington Elementary where she receives free after-school care during the year, she said, but even with attending one of the lesser expensive childcare centers during the summer costs have still gone up.

"It's a big chunk out of our budget," she said.

The average cost of daycare in Texas in 2008 is estimated between $5,700 to $7,400 per child depending on age, according to the National and Texas Associations of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies.

With the median income of single mothers in Texas at about $20,860 -- nearly $3,000 less than the national average -- those childcare costs often take about 36 percent of a mother's income, according to NACCRRA.

Getting the basics

Next to housing assistance, area social service agencies report requests for utility bill assistance and food supplies are on the rise, as well.

To keep young children healthy, said outreach specialist at West Texas Opportunities Michael Barriga, parents often have to run the air conditioner to some extent. Staff at Catholic Charities said in addition to that summer expense, some families are in need of more food because their children aren't able to get to their public school each day to receive the free and reduced lunches they may have during the schoolyear.

"I think we're just seeing the beginning of it," said Big Brothers Big Sisters' Executive Director Sandra Tisdale. "The full ramifications have yet to be felt."

Of the roughly 25 million workers receiving food stamps -- which translates to about $7.16 per household per day -- more than 50 percent go to single-parent households, according to the Heritage Foundation, a conservative research group.

Dean said she's been stretching her food budget by cooking everything at home and making a lot of grilled cheese sandwiches, though she said she's noticed her food stamps don't buy quite as much as they used to.