Advantages Of Single Parent Families

Did you know that more than one fourth of all children in the United States live with only one parent? Single parenting has become more common today than in the 1800s, when it was sometimes frowned upon. As the years have gone by, it has become easier and easier for women to become single parents. In the 1800’s if husbands died or abandoned their families, women had no choice but to work for extremely low and unfair wages. Today, most men and women are treated equal and receive equal wages making it easier for women to be single parents. This concept is shown in Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer through Aunt Polly in the 19th century, single parenting is also common today.

Single parent vs. two parent homes and the effect it has on their child’s viability, intimacy and conflict in their intimate relationships.

Impacting multiple areas of society, “fatherlessness is a link with virtually every social ill you can name” (Marche, 2013). The numbers are staggering and statistics show, “65 percent of all our children are growing up without a father in the home” (Chiles, 2010). Chiles (2010) also states, “one third of our babies live in poverty and when a child grows up without a father, they are 20 times more likely to end up in prison.” Poverty and fatherlessness is without a doubt a contributing factor to current societal issues. Data shows that the amount of unmarried women giving birth is in an upward spiral. According to Marche (2013), “in 2008, 41 percent of births involved unmarried women compared with 28 percent in 1990.” This information shows the digression of the family unit, and the decreased level of commitment among men to engage in as the husband and father to their family. Currently, an “estimated 24.7 million children (33%)” live without their father” (“U.S. Census Bureau”, 2010). The epidemic is not only evident in the unwed partners, but divorce contributes as well to the troubling effect upon children. Botèro (2012) states “children of divorce without enough father contact are prone to have poor social skills; to struggle with the five D’s (depression, drugs, drinking, discipline and

It is not uncommon for a child in today’s society to be raised in a single-parent household Compared to peers in intact families, adolescents in single-parent families and stepfamilies seem more likely to engage in delinquency as I research. This relationship appears to be operating through differences in family processes parental involvement, supervision, monitoring, and parent child closeness—between intact and non-intact families and peers living in traditional intact families (two married-biological parents), youths living in two-biological-parent blended families, two biological- parent cohabiting families, biological mother- stepfather families, biological-mother cohabiting partner families, biological-mother only families, biological father-cohabiting partner families, biological-father-only families, grandparent only families, and foster families engaged, on average, in higher levels of antisocial behavior.

As of 2016, there are over 20 million children in the United States who are being raised in single-parent households. While most of these children are being raised by their mothers, over 3 million of them live with their fathers. These single moms & dads face unique challenges. Luckily, there are many things single parents can do to face these challenges more efficiently.

When people first hear of children living in a single parent household, they automatically think of divorce, a widow, or an unmarried parent with children. Taking into account all the different factors resulting in a single parent household, divorce is the most common. Sadly, about 30 to 40 percent of marriages in the United States end in divorce. Although many people come to the conclusion that living in a single parent household creates negative effects for the children, I believe from personal experience that there are perhaps many beneficial factors for the children. Of course, divorce isn't easy for any of the parties involved. It creates conflict but in the full picture, it happens to create a healthier life for the children and parents. Every situation and story is different. Some single parenting circumstances aren't the best and never seem to get better. Then, there are other instances that turn out to eventually work well for the family.

Children raised by two parents generally have better health, fewer emotional and behavioral problems, and better access to health care. On the other hand, children of single parent households tend to have worse social skills, have a lower self-esteem, have a higher incidence of psychiatric illness, and a higher chance at attempting suicide. In fact, these problems are so rampant that “children of divorce are more than twice as likely to have serious social, emotional, or psychological problems as children of intact families—25 percent versus 10 percent” (Parke 4). As the quote states, these kids have heightened risk factors dependent on whether or not his or her parent was divorced. Not to mention that these effects of distress induced by divorce can last for up to ten years! In regards to the serious psychiatric problems that can develop in children from the divorced, it is revealed that 2.5% of girls and 1.5% of boys are hospitalized with problems such as severe depression and schizophrenia. This is compared to the 1% of girls and 0.5% of boys who live in a house with two parents. The suicide rate for children of single parents is as follows: 2.2% for girls and 1% for boys. For children living with two parents, the suicide rate is 0.8% of girls and 0.3% of boys (Ross). These problems may stem from the disruptions in normal day-to-day

I agree with you on all the benefits of marriage you outlined. Marriage has been considered a moral fiber of our society, the agreement between two loving individuals to provide for one another. “Looking at the benefits for children, there is a wealth of evidence that children living in two-parent homes are better off than those in single-parent families. They are 44 percent less likely to be physically abused, 47 percent less likely to suffer physical neglect, 43 percent less likely to suffer emotional neglect, and 55 percent less likely to suffer some form of child abuse” (Santorum, 2003).

As a single parent I agree when I hear people say employers should provide a flexible work environment for employees. I understand this is not always possible, that some jobs require “strict timetables”. However, that applies to only a number of jobs. There are so many industries that are able to operate more freely.

I hypothesize that individuals who were raised in a single parent home grow up with the same or similar values and opinions as they were taught throughout their childhood, where as individuals who were raised in dual parent households grow up with different values and opinions from what they were taught earlier in life because, in single parent homes there is only the one perspective of the parent from which the taught values and opinions come from along with the unlikely events of contradicting influences occurring from another parent where as in dual parent homes each parent may possess opposite values and opinions thus, leading to the child's confusion from different authoritative influences causing them to create their own impression on

He it to me be There is still a great debate on whether or not single parenting and divorce will affect a child’s development throughout their life. In the United States 43%-50% of many first marriages end in divorce and 50% of American children will experience their parents’ divorce. Most parents always ask themselves before they divorce if they should stay together because of their child, in some way they perceive that negative situations will come to the child if they divorce. There has been a debate between two sides of the coin, one side says that divorce carries a long term negative effect on children .The other side says that there is not a negative long term effect

For the last two decades, divorce has become ever more prelivant in society. Studies conclude that less than one-third of all marriages end in divorce. The effects of divorce can be very devastating, especially when children are involved. Everyone who has ever listened to the news has heard the dismal statistics of adolescents coming from broken homes. The statistics showing the effects of a fatherless household includes:

In America, roughly 34% of households are single parent households. This mainly occurs because most parents don’t get married or one parent decides that the pressure of raising a child is too much for them to handle. This decision not only affects the other parent, but it also has a major effect on the child. Single parent households can affect a child’s academic success, social life, social decisions, and emotions. Single parent households can also affect the parent that is the head of household financially, emotionally, it can cause stress and occasional guilt.

Many children in today’s society have grown to become successful and mentally stable whether they had two parents, or one parent raise them. With everything in life it is never about quantity, but quality. This could apply to single parenting as well. As long as a parent create a stable and nurturing home their child will grow up to be a mature, hard working, independent, and loving adult. Family structure should not be the main focus when it comes to raising children, the focus should be on the values and life lessons that are taught to the child as they mature in life. Family structure in the last decade have change drastically. Children are being raised by same sex parents, grandparents, extended family, a single father, or a single

There are currently over 107,000 foster children eligible for and waiting to be adopted in the United States today. From 2012 to 2016, although an average of 50,000 foster kids were adopted annually, an extremely high number of children are still in need of a stable home. Fortunately, in recent years, there has been an increasing desire for people in America to raise a family and nurture a child and this is common among married couples as well as single men and women. However, there have been some conflicts concerning whether single individuals are capable to adopt or if having a single parent is in the best interest of these foster kids. This narrow ideology simply doesn’t make any sense when one looks at the makeup of the present day, typical American family. Numerous single parent families exist throughout the U.S. today. Moreover, many would argue that these households maintain just as much of a loving, caring, and safe environment for their children as that of a married couple, if not more.