Lone Parenthood Sociology

The social deviance that interests me is single parenting, one who chose to have a child out of wed-lock. The stigma attached to being a single parent is rising anew. Many media commentators blame America's uptrend in violence and other social problems on family breakdown - on single parents. This stigma is based on myths and stereotypes that have been promoted by half-truths and, often, by prejudiced viewpoints. Many in our society still regard single parenthood as a unwelcome status. I as a single parent myself, I am often admired, but at the same time looked upon with pity, disgust, sympathy, and perhaps with uneasiness. In defense of single parent families I would argue to

In the introduction of this essay we will be looking at ‘what is child poverty?’ Poverty is often associated with the third world and developing countries where death from starvation and disease is the outcome. This kind of poverty is rarely seen in the UK though. Child poverty is unfortunately a result of adult poverty with Child poverty having lifelong consequences. There are 3.5 million children living in poverty in the UK today, that’s 27 per cent of children or more than one in four (department for work and pensions, 2013.) Poverty in the UK is about a lack of resources, lack of capital both income and wealth. But it can also be resource poor such as; education and good health

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.

Department for Work and Pensions, 2011. A New Approach to Child Poverty: Tackling the causes of Disadvantage and Transforming Familie's Lives, s.l.: Her Majesty's Stationary Office.

Child poverty is not just something that poorer countries have to deal with, it is a world-wide issue involving even the richest countries, where the disparity between rich and poor can be worse than in developing countries. This essay will examine some of the key causes of child poverty as well as the impacts on society. The reality of child poverty in the UK is that some families living on a low income and have only about £13 per day per person. (Barnardo’s online 2015). With this in mind, many people may well have met, or know, families that are below the UK poverty line.

Source 1 - This source is a BBC News article about Child Poverty in the UK which was written in 2015, so the information is up to date. The strengths of this article are that it has informative statistics and information about the causes of child poverty. The weaknesses of the article are that it has more about the government than about child poverty itself. I

To understand poverty, it is crucial to understand the systems that are involved in creating it. Inequality is embedded in many necessary institutions within society, which provides the basis for poverty to occur. Without this entrenchment of inequality amongst institutions and systems within society, it is clear that poverty would look very different. This paper will delve into the concept of racialized poverty and how racialized minorities have a greater propensity to remain in poverty due to a lack of accessibility to high quality and equal institutions. By examining systems such as the labour market, education and healthcare , it will become evident that racialized minorties are not granted the same opportunities as people who are

“10 Things a Single Parent Wants You to Know” is an article in Reader’s Digest by Jen Babakhan. This begins by saying that just because you have a spouse that works a lot does not mean you are a single parent. One significant difference is that single parents provide all the income and attention in the household. Next the article discusses that while parenting alone has it’s challenges it’s also very rewarding. I relate this article back to the chapter and class discussions on different family structures and socioeconomic factors.

In the United States, there are approximately 10 million single mothers leading a family on their own (“ Single Mom Statistics: Surprising Facts & Figures of Today’s Single Mother”). Having a father in the home, can have numerous benefits to a child’s development.

Now well into the 21st century, as a modern, innovative, and multicultural North American society – there are a myriad of family-types, subsequently, multiple definitions and ideologies that encompass family systems, functions, and representations. Galvin, Braithwaite, and Bylund (2016) attest that “family life is a universal human experience” (p. 2) and that “there are many ways to be a family [because] family life is as diverse as the persons who create families” (p. 3). Deliberately, Galvin et al. (2016) reveal different family-types that range from two-parent biological family to intergenerational family with five different cohorts in between, each with individual characteristics (p. 9). Amidst family cohorts, the single-parent family (SPF) comprises one parent, and one child or children forged by choice (including adoption and other means), separation (including divorce and desertion), or death. The SPF is also categorized dependent on custodial functions and responsibilities (Galvin et al., 2016, p. 9).

Child poverty in Britain affects an increasing number of families; the most recent statistics from 2014-2015 show that poverty affects 1 in 4 children in the UK today1. The cause of child poverty has many contributing factors and creates multiple issues for the individuals affected. Child poverty in Britain is much different than the television adverts that show the awful living conditions of children in third world countries, however still has devastating outcomes for those experiencing poverty. Our standard of living is much different and therefore we must compare poverty in Britain to the living standards that we are accustomed to in society today; this concept was introduced by sociologist Peter Townsend in 1979 who defined poverty as; ‘Individuals, families and groups in the population can be said to be in poverty when they lack resources to obtain the type of diet, participate in the activities and have the living conditions and amenities which are customary, or at least widely encouraged and approved, in the societies in which they belong.’ 2

This report will focus on contemporary poverty in the UK although poverty is different globally, it will look at childhood in general and show the effect that poverty has on the experiences of childhood. The report will define poverty and use statistics and government policy on poverty. Three sources will be analysed, for the academic my main source is on the book of Ridge (2002) which is Childhood Poverty and Social Exclusion from a Childs perspective, next for media source it is a documentary called Poor Kids and my case study is on a lone parent family. Townsend who was a sociologist in (1979) defined poverty he said

The “feminization of poverty”, refers to the trend whereby women and children comprise an increasing percentage of the overall poverty population (Pearce, 1978). Virtually unanimous among activists, women are more likely to fall into poverty than their male counterparts. In addition to this assumption regarding the gender-gap, race and ethnicity interact to further shape the gap. The current situation, as it pertains to females, is not only a consequence relatable to lack of income, but also is a direct result of pervasive bias in society and government.

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.

Especially in today’s society, it’s disturbingly common for a child to have to grow up in a single parent household, letting the consequences of this scenario internally destroy the child like a virus. The effects are usually the same, but the frequency of the effects shouldn’t deter the severity. Another misconstrued ideal about single parent households, is whether or not the “statistics” and the “studies” taken on these families is enough to summarize the general population. They aren’t. The same goes for the causes, but on a much more significant scale. The causes and effects of single parent households implied by the studies and statistics are all true, but there’s a much bigger story that can’t be accurately measured or recorded. What the numbers show, are what represent the average. The non-hispanic White race represents the average race, low class to poverty level, and women to gender. But, as can be seconded by most struggling families in this situation, “average” doesn’t describe “real.” There are some things that can’t be taken into account, and those are the things that affect the child the most.