Single Parenting-Advantages and Disadvantages
Samuella A. G. Brewah
SUNY College at Old Westbury
Abstract Being a single parent is an overwhelming task, nevertheless it yields greater benefits; with persistence and dedication. A strong bond is developed between the parent and the child/ children. It is a desire and heartbeat of everyone I to have a traditional family; wherein both the mother and father are fully involved in the lives of their children. In this all different roles and various levels of responsibilities are equally proportioned. There are times when as a single parent you encounter difficult moments; when performing tasks which should be handled by both parents especially those pertaining to gender. This research
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A further research with emphasis on psychology in understanding the effecting on single parent has shown that there has been an increase in the percentage of children born outside marriage (41%) compared to thirty years ago (17%). According to Dr. Keith Ablow of Fox News, he thought “the number is on the increase and does not seem to be changing for the better for many reasons including the fact that attention has not been paid much on the need for independence forgetting sexual fulfillment leading to the sporadic increase of divorce rate and marriage neglect. Dr. Keith cited that most often the children are left with the mother with little attention or support from the father. This has coursed depression and behavior disturbance in many homes. “Children are left with unresolved and unanswered questions which they could not receive answers to when raised by a single parent or even during shared parenting between the divorced parents.(Albow, 2012). This is something that I can attest to as a divorced parent raising a son, he is always asking why his father left, I tried to prevent him from having a distorted mind but rather focus on what will make him a better person in the future. I don’t think this is the age for me to explain what happened between me and this father and it troubles me sometimes. Children often
Demographically, over 90% of the participants strongly agreed that fatherhood is crucial in our society. A little over 47% of fathers, that encouragement from the mothers of their children matters because of the obstacles they faced with finance, and their duties on the job. The final results of marital status statistics is over 80% married fathers, nine percent divorced, and six percent never married. One surprising statistic was 90% cohabitate with the mother and focal child (Glenn & Popenoe, 2006).
In Australia single parenting has grown rapidly and accepted. “Between 1996 and 2011, children in one parent families increased from 6% to 7% with female lone-parents increasing from 3% to 4% while male lone-parents remained at 1% (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2015b).” According to the statistics of single parenthood, the
Divorce is one of the most common happenings in the world experienced by children. Most children go through different adjustments to become comfortable with the fact that their parents are not together anymore. Children of divorced parents are prone to lifelong effects. Seventy-five to eighty percent of children have divorced parents and twenty-five percent of those children have serious social, emotional, or psychological problems for the rest of their life. Most adults think that it is best for parents to stay together for the sake of their child because having two parents in different households can become difficult for the child socially and academically.
Family is the first contact an infant experiences and the environment child is raised determines their behaviors and social development. Father figures just like mother figures are important in raising and socializing children in becoming responsible people as they grow. Numerous researches to determine importance of fathers in early child development have been carried out and majority of them found out that just like mothers, the role fathers play in early childhood development including mental, psychological and physical development are crucial. The studies show that, children raised by single mothers are likely to have problems such as drug abuse, engagement in early sexual behaviors and other unsocial behaviors as compared to those raised by both parents. The paper will explore the role of fathers in child rearing, discussing strategies in raising children and exploring pros and cons of such strategies.
Children react differently yet similarly in divorce. Every child caught up in the distress of divorce has a hard time coping with it and imagining their life without a parent. Their
In the contrary, another longitudinal study took place across two decades with a cohort of preschoolers (4 years old) whose parents had been separated between 12-18 months. They were assessed again two years later (age 6) and then follow-ups occurred at 10, 16 and 24 years of age. The sample was expanded at each assessment and ended up including divorced, non-divorced and remarried individuals among 450 families. The most significant finding of the study was that 75% of the children were able to positively adjust between 2 – 6 years post divorce, while 25% still struggled with psychosocial problems for decades (Zimiles, 2004).
There are a number of new things the parent must deal with because of this. The first of which being the new financial situation. There is still income coming from the soldier while they are deployed, and in the case where they are killed, a no-taxable gratitude payment of one hundred thousand dollars will be made out to the immediate family so long as the soldier died under certain conditions such as during active duty (Death Gratuity). While most have the basic abilities to balance a checkbook, it poses a challenge to manage paying bills, buying groceries, and other necessities by one's self. This is similar to another immense undertaking they are forced into managing, raising children as a virtual single parent (Effect of Parents).
Thesis: To understand that there are many parents raising their children alone with no help at all. Many single parents have different circumstances that cause them to raise their children by themselves. Being a single parent is not easy there are good days and bad days and most single parents must make it through no matter what. Many single parents do not realize that their children are looking at them for the rest of their lives.
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.
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.
Divorce has many factors that can affect the development of a child and the path leading up to that child’s adulthood. In most cases, the children
Through many years, children growing up in single family homes has been discovered as problems. “At first glance, defending single mothers and their children. Raised by a strong and resourceful single mother, I turned out OK” (Wilcox). Being raised up with one parent seems to be stressful and impossible, but for decades its become possible to happen. In the society today, there are children growing up overcoming emotional stages and achieving their goals whether if they have both parents to show them difficult paths in their life that they will overcome as a growing human being. The problems that occurs within raising a child in a single family home compared to a married home can be different or the same depending on the disciplinary actions. There are many questions asked, does a child need both parent figures to be raised? Does a son need a father figure, does a daughter need a mother figure? Among all the questions asked, is there a person taking care the main responsible with much undertaking, on the single parenting topic it has become an interesting argument. People need to be more informed with raising a child. Raising a child does not rely on the structure of a family, it is more to how a parent is discipline and having a proper process of teaching their child with learning how to be mature and respectful. Children of a single home can be progressive with the same emotional, social able, and interactive behavioral skills that is raised with both parents.
I agree that the absence of one parents could intervein in the children’s well-being and children’s outcomes, but the results of the study showed that single mothers were in disadvantage comparing to other family structures. It is fact that most of single mother income is lower than single father. Also, the society structure led a single mother to struggle to support their children by themselves by the lack of resources and
The journal article is talking about the difficulties which the single-parent families facing, such as emotional problems, housing stress and financial stress. It generated different viewpoints from different literature, and suggested an approach to meet the needs of single-parents.
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.