80 percent of single families are run by mothers. On average, women make 18 percent less than men.
Citing those statistics, Mindi Englart — mother, teacher, author, and now entrepreneur — has created a single mother’s discount card.
The card, which Englart began piloting a few weeks ago, aims to provide single mothers with a discount in partnering stores, similar to the senior or student discounts that are available in most businesses.
She discussed the project with host Babz Rawls-Ivy during an appearance Monday on WNHH FM’s “LoveBabz LoveTalk” program. (Watch the episode above.)
Englart, herself a single mother, conceived of the idea while working at The Grove, a former coworking space in New Haven.
“I noticed that a lot of single moms didn’t treat themselves,” she said of the impetus for the Single Mothers Discount Card. “Moms were putting everything towards the kids, [but] nobody was caring for the caretaker.”
As a creative writing teacher at Cooperative Arts & Humanities High School, Englart has noticed that the children of single parents frequently worry about their parents’ wellbeing. The card, she said, is also meant to help them.
Although the card is geared towards single mothers, single parents of all genders can apply, for which the application is completely free.
After doing so, they will receive a physical card, which can then be presented at partnering businesses for a discount of the business’ choice.
Englart (who wrote a 2020 novel called Stretch) recommends participating businesses adopt an 18 percent discount in acknowledgment of the overall wage gap between women and men.
The card is free to parents. Businesses pay a small fee to be considered partners — $100 annually for larger corporations and $30 for small businesses. Businesses run by single mothers do not need to pay.
Currently, moms themselves recruit businesses to the program. Englart pays them $15 for each referral out of pocket.
By advertising the businesses on the project’s website and incentivizing the mothers to shop there, Englart said, businesses quickly make back their money.
“[The discount] lets [single mothers] know that society is starting to recognize and help them,” she added.
Englart showing the discount card’s website and two business partners.
At the moment, there are two partnering businesses: Optavia — which specializes in weight loss coaching — and Capital Yoga.
Englart envisions a future in which the cards are so widespread that, when anyone walks into a store, they’ll be asked if they’re eligible for “the senior discount or student discount or single mom discount.”
Until then, Englart continues recruiting additional businesses for what she considers to be an idea at the cornerstone of societal change in regards to the recognition and support that single mothers receive.
“It’s a business idea, but I’d like it to be a movement,” she said.
People interested in learning more can click here for the discount card’s website.
I LOVE this idea. I have the privilege and means to be able to shop locally and small, where my dollars can do the most good, but that's not a luxury everyone has, especially single parents. So, given how strained small businesses already are, how can we help them make up any potential lost revenue from this discount? Will goods prices simply rise overall to mitigate the damages, or do we think that the increase in foot traffic incentivized by the discount card will be enough? I certainly hope it's the latter.