As the United States becomes increasingly entangled in military conflict with Iran, the costs are not only being felt overseas. At home, the economic consequences are hitting American households hard, and women, particularly single mothers, are bearing the brunt.
On February 28, the U.S. and Israel killed Iran’s supreme leader. That same day, a primary school in Iran was attacked, killing at least 175 people, including many children. Iran responded with attacks on Israel and US-allied countries in the Gulf and closed the Strait of Hormuz, a passage through which roughly one fifth of the world’s oil supply flows. The disruption sent oil prices soaring.
Economic shocks rarely fall evenly. Structural inequalities in wages, caregiving responsibilities, and employment mean that women often experience rising costs first and most intensely. Single mothers are especially vulnerable. In the United States, more than four of five single parents are women, and the majority of them are Black women and Latinas. Their median income is about $17,000 lower than that of single fathers, leaving little room to absorb sudden price increases.
Single mothers are also more likely to be working and commuting daily than married women, making them particularly exposed to rising gas prices. As gas prices rise in response to instability in global oil markets, those commuting costs quickly add up. For many single mothers, transportation is not optional. Without reliable public transit in many parts of the country, driving is often the only way to maintain employment and manage caregiving responsibilities.
Families earning between $40,000 and $49,999 spend one of the highest shares of their income on gas, a bracket many single-mother households fall into. When prices rise across multiple categories at once, the pressure on these families intensifies. For single mothers, balancing rent, childcare, food, and transportation on a single income, can force difficult financial tradeoffs.
Polling suggests that women are already feeling this strain more acutely. According to a survey conducted by the 19th and SurveyMonkey, women report greater concern than men about their ability to pay for basic expenses, including groceries, housing, and utilities. These concerns reflect longstanding economic disparities. Women continue to earn less on average than men and are more likely to head households with children, meaning rising prices stretch their budgets further.
The broader economic consequences also matter because women play a central role in household spending decisions. Women influence roughly 85 percent of consumer purchases in the United States, making them a driving force behind much of the country’s economic activity. When women’s purchasing power is weakened by rising costs, the impact extends beyond individual households and into the broader economy.