An unreported cause of poverty

So I was watching The News Hour on PBS tonight, and they had a segment on the working poor. The person they selected was a woman named Scharf (I forget the first name, sorry) who was running to stand still, financially. The segment ticked off a number of misfortunes she was faced with, and how tough it was for her. One cause of her straits that was mentioned but not analyzed was probably the biggest one: she is a single mother. Single motherhood is a sure ticket to financial struggles in America, documented umpty times over, yet there was no discussion of it in Ms. Scharf's case. That would be too insensitive, and also violate the liberal precept that single parenthood is simply one lifestyle choice among many, none better or worse than another.