Lone Parent Families

The economic factors are also a problem with divorced families which in turn has a direct effect on the ability of the children to succeed financially. The majority of divorces that occur result in the household income being reduced by as much as half. This can have a much greater effect on children growing up in a family that is financially secure before the divorce. The adjustment and change that must occur financially is often devastating to the children especially in their formative years. (Fagan & Rector, 2000)

In the UK, particularly in England and Wales, children’s life chances are determined by the economic status of the families into which they are a part of. Children from poor households are more likely to suffer the consequences of their families’ condition. They will have to endure the stigma of poverty in a profoundly lopsided society where the socioeconomic standing of individuals is determined by their capacity to buy. These poor children also have less access to quality educational opportunities (Welbourne, 2012). Furthermore, children living in poverty at present are likely to remain poor for the rest of their lives because of intergenerational cycles of poverty

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

One of the main reasons of changes in family size is that divorce rates have increased dramatically. This can be seen by figures showing that in 1950, there were 40,000 divorces across England and Wales and in 2005 there 153,399 across the same area. The increase in divorce has led to more reconstituted families, singlehood and single parenthood, therefore the family size has generally decreased apart from in cases where reconstituted families have been formed. This increase in divorce is due

The family structures and the form of households in Australia have profoundly changed in the past decade. Among the most significant changes is the increasing numbers of one-parent families with children under 15 years (ABS, 2007). This paper aims to explore the extent and nature of the growing population of single parents and their households in Australia, particularly giving attention to their health status and related primary health care services. A single parent family composes of one parent with at least one dependent child residing in the same household (Qu & Weston, 2013). Single-parent families are at higher risk of disadvantage compared to other family types, especially when it comes to housing, nutrition, income, employment,

Cherlin, A. J., F. F. Furstenburg, Jr., L. Chase-Lansdale, K. E. Kiernan, P. K. Robins, D. R. Morrison, and J. O. Teitler. “Longitudinal Studies of Effects of Divorce on Children in Great Britain and the United States” 252.5011 (1991): 1386-389. Web. 17 Apr. 2016.

There are evidently various perspectives pertaining to single mothers and low-income households that shape the mentality and perception of society as a whole, for instance, the government, media, advocacy groups, etc. The government possesses a very neoliberal view regarding this subject because of the current capitalist economic system that emphasizes the ideology of the individual and their personal responsibility and freedom. This is what constitutes the idea that welfare and all types of social assistance is bad, as it creates lazy people that are stripped of their personal freedom to participate in the workforce. Power proposes in his article,

Lone-parent families struggle to get social assistance from the government because of the welfare policies. Single parents lack affordable childcare with long waiting list, no available space, but if available, it is likely to be costly for single parents to afford. High quality regulated child care is inaccessible to single parent families, and it is not contested; in addition, Canada’s public funding for childcare is very low, consequently, the quality is not as high as it should be. Furthermore, they lack drug and dental benefits and of full time well paid employment, have made it difficult if not impossible for many single parents, as they struggle to balance the competing demands of caring for and providing support for their children.

33). The largest segment of poverty is unemployed single-parent (mother-only) families, which account for 70.8 percent (Census Bureau, 2003). Interestingly, that figure decreases to 21.1% if someone is working in that family type (Census Bureau, 2003). The latent effects of such high poverty rates are the children, with an estimated 16 million American children living in poverty (Frontline, Poor Kids). The single-parent (mother-only) dynamic can be broken-down further… the underlying causes. Divorce has always been seen as the number one cause for formation of mother-only family households. Although divorce rates remain relatively high (40%), another dynamic, out-of-wedlock-births, have supplanted divorce as the number one living arrangement (mother-only) for poor children (51.1 %), compared to 24.2% for divorce (Census Bureau, 2004b). Digging deeper into these numbers uncovers something more troubling. The numbers increase dramatically for out-of-wedlock-births for Black women (71.4% compared to the 51.1% average for all mother-only families). No other race surpasses the 51.1% average, and the next closet is Hispanic mother-only households at 48%. Overall, 33% of black children live in poor families (NAACP,

Each year as families are progressing to be built there are more familes decreasing. The online database “The Effects of Divorce In America” connects to how many children will grow to see there parents divorce before the age of 18. “Mounting evidence in social science journals demonstrates that the devastating physical, emotional, and financial effects that divorce is having on these children will last well into adulthood and affect future generations”. This problem that is occurring with children being involved in divorces is causing the world to be kept at a low with violence and education. Which is allowing behavioral effects and the rate of divorces to be kept at a high. With the lowering of children having families also only “42 percent of children aged 14 to 18 live in a “First Marriage” family”. Having such high rates with divorces, child influence is a major factor when separating.

Family structure is important for developing stability for a child. Its is also a factor in the way a child will themselves feel about the institution of marriage. Likewise, children from ‘non-normal' households are more likely to develop ‘nonnormative' attitudes towards family life. The divorce rates among the impoverished are higher than those of other classes. Higher than that are the divorce rates of African-Americans of the impoverished class. Rector states that "blacks have higher poverty rates, mainly because blacks have lower marriage rates"(Rector, 27 ).

In the last 50 years or so, family life has changed becoming more diverse and complex, which has been the source of research by social scientists especially the effects of divorce on children. Marriage is no longer an institution that couples need to suffer if times are difficult, divorce is easier and cohabitation is more morally acceptable. The ideology of the nuclear family whilst not outdated is not the only type of family in which to raise children. The modern more complex family arrangements include step families, lone parents, step sibling

During the years, single parent families have become a more common thing. This is starting to become a problem, because family dynamics can really influence a child’s life. According to studies it affects not only the child but the parents too.

Each and every day a child somewhere in the world is experiencing major changes within their family. One of those major changes is divorce or separation of parents. Divorce is “the action or an instance of legally dissolving a marriage”(Webster, 2011 p1). Today’s reality shows that couples only have one in two odds of remaining together. “ The U.S. Census bureau – involved in research about counseling children of divorce- estimating that approximately 50% of all American children born in 1982 lived in a single-parent homes sometime during their first 18 years. Mostly are due to divorce”(Children of Divorce, 2008 p.1). The rapid increase in divorce rates is a factor that has contributed to the large decline of the typical family. “Over 1

For the first five years of my childhood, I was raised in a single parent home. My mother would have to work harder to provide anything that was needed for me and my other siblings. But that changed when my father came back into our lives when I turned six. From that point on our family structure took a drastic change for the better. My mother didn't have to work as long as before, so we were able to see her more often. Having two parents at home caused the quality of our lives become better than it was before when only one parent supported us. For many households, however the reality is that only one parent during their upbringing. This does have a rather big effort on them in the life of the child and the parent who is raising the child. A single parent household harms the parent and the child.