Are Single Parent Homes a Dysfunctional Model of Family?

There is a plethora of reasons as to why single-parent households are toxic to a child’s future. Single parenthood has problematic consequences for children’s school performance at all levels in their educational career. Children who grew up with only one biological parent are twice as likely

All across the globe, there are children growing up in single-parent households, and through some research

However, by rising to these challenges, custodial single parents develop significant strengths. The positive benefits of being a single parent are that the child receives a lesson in independence. The child sees how strong the one parent is at providing them with everything they need without having to depend on someone else. The parents are showing their children that it is possible to live on their own, have an enjoyable life and take care of others while doing so. The children will know that they are a priority to the parent. When there is a second parent around the house, it can be easy to put responsibility off on them, but when the children see how hard the parent is working for them, they will understand how important they are to their parent. (Dowd, 1997)

In 2002, number of children living with their single parent was 16.5 million (Davidson). The most important thing is that each single-parent family is different from the other. Children who live with a widowed mother will definitely be living a different home life from children with divorced parents or the one whose parents were never married. Children of the parents who were divorced will always have some kind of relationship with parents and parents’ partners. But it is obvious that children from single-parent families face tougher times economically as well as

Some of the negative effects on a child being raised in a single parent home can be seen in the early years of their development. The child can start to feel infer to other children around them who have both parents present. These feelings of inferiority can stay with a child all the way to adulthood later in life. This negative impact can harm their ability to gain confidence leading to poor work in school and work later in life. The child will also feel neglected which can make it hard for them understand forming relationships with other people. This affects their understanding of how to act with other on a social basis during a critical time in their development. Also due to a parent needing to work longer hours to make up for the missing half of the house the child will not see them often. Missing parental presence can lead to very poor care of that child to the point that their health also goes into decline.

This journal explains that researchers, such as Amato, have several theories that explain why and how children growing up with single parents have an elevated risk of experiencing problems. Some of these problems include cognitive thinking, social interaction and the emotional well-being of the child. Most of the theories discuss economic and parental resources available to children. They also talk about the stressful events and circumstances to which these children must adapt.

“Single-parent families now constitute 30 percent of all families with minor children and are the most rapidly growing families in America” (as cited in Dowd, 1997). When people hear the term ‘single-parent’ they automatically think it means a person who is the legal guardian of a child or children. It is typical for a single-parent to be a woman, because the statistics on the proportion of the children who live with their mother is at 87 percent, while a small 13 percent live with their father (as cited in Dowd, 1997). Because of the diversity in household types, a common question has been asked several times. Which type is better? Raising a child in a single-parent household or a two-parent household?

Single-parented adolescents are at a disadvantage because they often lack the luxuries and advantages that other children and adolescents with both parents present have. They lack the attention and nurturing that is given more often in an ideal family structure. This may be due to the parent giving all their time, effort, and energy trying to provide for the children and adolescents that they unintentionally forfeit opportunities to

Single- parent families are characterized in several different ways. These include single- parenthood due to the following: divorce, as a result of death, individual choice (unwed pregnancy, adoption), or types of temporary work-related situations, such as military deployment (Gladding, 2015). Regardless of what leads to the family being restructured, the hardships and stressors that the family faces during this time are quite similar. Every aspect of the family system tends to change, which includes but is not limited to income, housing, parenting styles and relationships with family

Divorce and out-of-wedlock childbearing are now epidemic in American society. Both forms of disrupted families are harmful to children and to society. The children of single parents are more likely to do poorly in school, commit crimes, and become single parents themselves. In addition, the increase in single-parent families contributes to such social problems as poverty, crime, and a decline in the quality of public education.

When an individual has a child and they are a single parent, they have to pay attention to the child and the child’s needs. There are few advantages for a child living in a single parent home. They often get to live in two houses and fluctuate between houses. They get two holiday celebrations with the parents. This kind of

Parents need to maintain the daily schedule. This is most difficult for the parent who does not have primary custody of the child. The non custodial parent must try to accomplish a schedule of their own that must include the needs and wants of the child. Depending on the work situation of this parent, it can be a quite difficult task. “The finding that decreased income was associated with higher divorce adjustment for men but not for women was inconsistent with findings that divorced women suffer financially to a greater extent than divorced men” (527 Plummer). With this fact, it is known that single-parenting affects a woman more heavily that it would a man. If the custodial parent is constantly trying to keep up with the demands of their job, this will affect how much time the parent and child will spend together. The attachment many children develop with their father by the preschool years makes them sensitive to changes in the amount of time they spend with him and interact with him. A younger child cannot always understand who their father really is. This leaves fathers feeling desperate for time with their child. When the father spends time with his children, he is liable to stretch the time they have together by taking the children home later, which causes stress for the mother because she has such negative feelings toward the father. This becomes “fuel” for confrontations with the father.

Youth from single parent homes showed an increase in drug use. Children from single parent homes are also more likely to smoke cigarettes, use drugs, and drink alcoholic beverages. In a study done by Hollist and Mcbroom (2006) 49.2% of children being raised in single

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

Married couples make up 68% of all families with children under 18, compared to 93% in 1950 (US 2015 Census). This demonstrates that more and more children are living in households with single parents. Single parents have to deal with jobs and other sources of stress making it difficult to give their children the attention they need. Additionally, single parents are the only ones that are providing for the family so they have a lot on their plate. This can provide stress on the child because they can feel unloved or even hated. As the rate of single parents go up, so does the amount of children that are not receiving enough