Single parent
A
single parent is a
parent with one or more
children, who is/are not living with the child's/children's other parents. The definition of single parenthood may vary according to local laws of nations or provinces.
Single parenthood may occur as a result of loss (death of spouse, separation, divorce, abandonment by one parent), or by choice (single parent adoption, donor insemination, egg donor/surrogate motherhood, choosing to carry to term an unexpected pregnancy and raise the child on one's own).
More than 25% of children in the U.S. live with only one parent (U.S. Bureau of Census, 1997). Research about the welfare of children in single-parent families varies. Many factors influence the outcome of how children fare: parent's age, education level, and occupation, family income, family's support network from friends and extended family members (including the absent parent if available). Further, outcomes in families where single-parenthood is chosen is higher, as the single parent is typically older, has established employment and social supports, and has considered the pros and cons of raising a child alone.
United States
Today in the United States, being raised by a single parent is not uncommon. About three in ten children live in a single parent home. The most common type of single parent home is one with only a mother. However, single father homes are the fastest growing type of family situation. The amount of single fathers has grown by 60% in the last ten years alone. This is mainly due to some sort of disaster that has happened to the mother. This may caus the single parent to be financially burdened due to the fact that one of the "breadwinners" has just been lost or if the the single parent is the breadwinner he or she will have less oppotunity to work as before when another parent was available, unless he or she employees a nany.
Australia
In 2003, 14 percent of all Australian households were single parent families. Another significant statistics is the 31 percent of babies born in Australia since 2001 were born to unmarried mothers.[
1].
United Kingdom
in 2004, 28 percent of British families with children were single parent families. About 25 percent of U.K. children lived in single parent families. This is 3 times the percentage in 1972, when just one in 17 children lived in a single parent family. Another interesting statistic is that above 40 percent of families with childrens in suburbs of London are single parent families, that is double the UK average [
2].
* While a single parent has the freedom to make decisions, it can be very challenging. There can be occasions when they will miss or wish they had someone to share the burden and the pressures of parenting.
[http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetails.aspx?p=114&np=99&id=1706]* Single parents are very likely to include their children in the day to day running of the family. The children may have to share more responsibility doing the chores as well as looking after themselves.
[http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetails.aspx?p=114&np=99&id=1706] * Single parents usually talk about things with their children that adults in a two parent family often work together. For example, discussing the shopping list and what to do over the school holidays
[http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetails.aspx?p=114&np=99&id=1706].
* Many parents and children have to adjust to children moving between the household of both parents
[http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetails.aspx?p=114&np=99&id=1706].
* Children from single parent families who have considerable input in their families affairs sometimes have issues at school because they expect to be treated in the same manner by teachers
[http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetails.aspx?p=114&np=99&id=1706].
* Often there is less income to manage with than in two parent homes where many have a double income
[http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetails.aspx?p=114&np=99&id=1706].
* Parenting a baby alone can be very stressful for any single parent. Babies need 24 hour care and parents need rest and time off, someone to talk to and someone who can provide help and support
[http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetails.aspx?p=114&np=99&id=1706].
Statistically, children in single parent homes fare worse than those with two parents. In the United States, family structure contributes to five characteristics of a child's well being. These include lower birthrates and higher death rates among infants when there is just one parent. Also, the number of children ages 15-17 in school and in good health is much lower, and the number of children becoming pregnant at these ages is increasing. However, children raised in single parent homes do worse than those with caregivers who can give the child attention in all areas, including academic and emotional health.
There are also signs that children who have gone through a
divorce have problems with
depression (mood), emotional stress, and difficulties in school. Problems like this however may not be because of the parent who raised them, but can be linked to other things that are also related to single parenting. When there is only one parent, the family is often less well off financially and this is the main reason for so many family problems. The effects of coming from a low-income family can be things like lower education levels, lower economic achievement and even leave the child isolated and lonely. Being a single parent and struggling for money often coincide, the consensus of research now suggests that family structure itself is the more significant variable.
Single parent homes are also associated with criminal activity in the U.S.A. Children from a single-parent household account for 72% of teenage murderers, 60% percent of people who commit
rape crimes and are eleven times more likely to exhibit violent behavior. Reasons for this have to do with the fact that these children are generally less supervised, their actions are less monitored and there is usually less communication between the child and parent, and that most likely they come from poor families (although the effect remains strong even controlling for income).
Most researchers have found that children from single parent homes tend to do worse in school than children in two parent homes, and that concentrations of young people from one parent households produce unfavorable school environments. For example, Suet-ling Pong found that students from single parent homes showed lower scores on mathematics and reading achievement tests. She also found that high concentrations in schools of students from single parent families were associated with lower achievement results for all students. Similarly, Carl L. Bankston III and Stephen J. Caldas found that high percentages of pupils from one parent families were closely connected to poor academic achievement for all students. Bankston and Caldas also found that many of the academic disadvantages of schools with large percentages of African American students could be explained by the predominance of young people from one parent families in these schools[
3]. However, researchers generally stress that family structure is only one of many influences on academic performance.
Growing Up with a Single Mother
This is by far the most common instance of single parenting; in the U.S.A single mothers outnumber single fathers nine to one. The problems that single mothers face are that they have a harder time providing for their families because feminist studies conclude that women generally have lower paying jobs, though this is disputed and newer studies reveal that the wage-gap (also known as
Income disparity) is largely down to choice, not discrimination. So, they have all the problems that lower income families have, but they have to raise a child on top of it.
Some positive things that may be associated with being a single mother is that opposed to males they usually have a more extensive support system. They are often closer to friends and families who can help them through tough times and even be there to support the mother in raising her children. The negative effects are that because the woman makes less money, she has to work longer hours, which leaves her with less time for her child.
Growing Up with a Single Father
In the U.S.A. fathers make up about 13% of single parents. These days fathers, married or single, have been changing their roles in the family setting. Today, they can be found more in helping children in a classroom setting, they are involved in house chores, they help out in the kitchen and other previously considered "mother" roles. Before this, fathers just were not socialized to be primary caregivers, although of course many men did raise children on their own due to high rates of maternal death.
Single fathers act as positive role models to children and are less likely to raise undisciplined children than single mothers. Despite the claim by radical-feminists, there are no factual studies that fathers are less capable of raising children than women and no factual studies showing that children raised by men are more likely to use drugs or engage in sex at an earlier age. Like the gay adoption issue, there are many people who make false assertions about the general fitness of men to raise children. Often, the critics of single fathers are women with an anti-male agenda.
Some biological factors that affect children living in a single father home are that females tend to reach menarche at an earlier age. One reason for this is that single- and two-parent families have different patterns of parental care resulting in differences in reproductive development. Also, social learning may account for developmental differences as father-absent girls model their mothers' sexual behavior and reproductive strategies.
Raising a child on one's own can be very stressful on a person, but they can encounter some benefits. Single parents strengthen their parenting skills, their ability to manage families better, communication; they also become better with organization skills and are more dependable. With all the responsibility that comes along with being a single parent, there are organizations out there to help them out.
*Bankston, Carl L. and Caldas, Stephen J., Family Structure, Schoolmates, and Racial Inequalities in School Achievement, Journal of Marriage and the Family 60:3 (1998), 715-723.
*Dependent Children: 1 in 4 in lone-parent families," National Statistics Online, National Statistics, United Kingdom (July 7, 2005) . Accessed at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=1163 on July 17, 2006.
*Geographic Distribution: London has most lone-parent families," National Statistics Online, National Statistics, United Kingdom (July 7, 2005). Accessed at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=1166 on July 17, 2006.
*Hilton, J., Desrochers, S.,Devall, E. Comparison of Role Demands, Relationships, and Child Functioning is Single-Mother, Single-Father, and Intact Families. Journal of Divorce and Remarriage ,35(?) 29-56.
*Mulkey, L.; Crain, R; Harrington, A.M. One-Parent Households and Achievement: Economic and Behavioral Explanations of a Small Effect. Sociology of Education, 1992, 65, 1, Jan, 48-65
*Pong, Suet-ling The School Compositional Effect of Single Parenthood on 10th Grade Achievement, Sociology of Education 71:1 (1998), 23-42.
*Quinlan, Robert J. Father absence, parental care, and female reproductive development. Evolution and Human Behavior, Volume 24, Issue 6, November 2003, Pages 376-390
*Richards, Leslie N.; Schmiege, Cynthia J. Family Relations, Vol. 42, No. 3, Family Diversity. (Jul., 1993), pp. 277-285.
*Risman, Barbara J., and Park, Kyung. (1988). Just The Two of Us: Parent-Child Relationships in Single-Parent Homes. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 1988, 50, 4, Nov, 1049.
*Sacks, G. (September 4, 2005) "Boys without fathers is not a logical new idea." Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock, Arkansas)
*States News Service. (2005 July 20). "America's Children: Family Structure and Children's Well-Being
* http://members.aol.com/asherah/fatherlessness.html
* http://www.news.cornell.edu/Chronicle/04/5.13.04/single_parents.html
*
Fight 4 Kids Internet Parenting Support
* http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/p60-225.pdf
* http://www.parentsworld.com/
* http://www.fathers-4-justice.org/index_2.htm
* http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetails.aspx?p=114&np=99&id=1706
* http://www.pobronson.com/factbook/pages/43.html
