As we approach another Mother’s Day, we as Americans reflect on the challenges facing some of the mothers struggling the most out there—single mothers living in poverty—and what we can do to create greater economic opportunity for all kinds of families. Here are five things to keep in mind about poor single mothers this Mother’s Day.

In The Hunger Games, the wealthy people of the Capitol leverage their power to create a game only they can win. Unfortunately, this is a storyline similar to one that many Americans know all too well. Watch this Hunger Games parody trailer to learn how Congress is playing games with hunger and nutrition assistance.

Melissa Boteach, director of Half in Ten, reveals some of the choices the GOP made in an effort to avert military cuts scheduled for January 2013 under a bipartisan agreement reached last summer.

Because House Republicans included cuts to a provision that coordinates essential nutrition assistance with other safety net programs, 280,000 children would no longer be automatically eligible for free school breakfast and lunch.

House Republicans recently proposed cuts to nutrition assistance that will kick 280,000 low-income children off automatic enrollment in the Free School Lunch and Breakfast Program. Those same kids and 1.5 million other people will also lose their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly food stamp benefits) that help them afford food at home. Ten years’ worth of these nutrition cuts could be prevented for the price of one year of tax cuts on 3,340 multimillion dollar estates that House Republicans are protecting in their budget.

Similar to many of our partners across the country, we have been closely watching the Arkansas House as it continues to try and roll back so many years of work addressing poverty. The latest news—the House majority’s plan to cut Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to new lows—has us particularly troubled. Cuts in food assistance programs only increase food insecurity in our state, which is one of the most food-insecure states in the nation.

Chart from Melissa Boteach, Lawrence Korb, and Max Hoffman shows that House conservatives are asking low- and middle-income families to foot the bill to protect weapons systems that don’t enhance our national security.

The House Agriculture Committee found nearly all of its savings ($33.2 billion over 10 years and less than what the Buffett Rule would raise even under the low scenario) from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. This translates into an 11 percent cut in the monthly benefit for an average family of four. The proposal would also change the rules of the program to make it more difficult for families who fall on hard times to access benefits, reduce coordination with other forms of assistance, and force families who lose a job to spend nearly all their savings to get temporary help.

Paid sick days legislation would enable workers to accrue paid sick leave and provide for provisions to help employers manage. It also makes economic sense as it costs businesses more in lost worker productivity to have sick employees come in, than it would cost to offer paid time off in the first place. President Obama has come out in favor of such legislation. Mitt Romney, who claims to understand the plight of working people, has been silent.

Katie Wright, Research Associate with the Half in Ten campaign, on the GOP and their new front on poor women and their families.