Single Parents Club : A Non Profit Organization Aimed At Providing Child Care

Stephanie Gonzalez is a 16 year old teenager who grew up and was raised in Chicago by only her mother and older brother. Stephanie has had to persevere through several challenges and obstacles in her life due to the fact that her father left her when she was only an infant. Stephanie was willing to speak out about how her culture needs to relook at the way they view single-parent households in society and how she was deeply affected by the way she grew up (Gonzalez). The percentage of children living with single parents increased substantially in the United States during the second half of the 20th century. Only nine percent of children lived with single parents in the 1960s, while this statistic increased dramatically to 28 percent in 2012. Growing

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.

It is surprising that 42 million women and 28 million children who accompany these mothers in the United States face the financial hardhips that Gilbert faces. Gilbert’s hardships in every sector of her life portray how single- mothers lack adequate support. Good and affordable childcare is hard to find. Obtaining government assistance for education, health insurance, and subsistence programs are also hard to find. I believe that the government or legislators should take into account the hardships that low-income and/or single- parent households face and provide better assistance and resources.

Children born to single or unwed parents causes serious problems and discussions not only within society, but also the welfare system. Becoming a parent seems to be one of the most beautiful things life has to offer to people. The laughter of children warms the heart like nothing else can, and the way their eyes light up when they receive something as small as a piece of candy reminds us all that the little things in life are the most important. However, children require time and money which often gets overlooked by many people. Raising a child with two married parents seems difficult enough, but today many people are having children out-of -wedlock which also seems to create more single parent homes and puts more pressure on that one parent who struggles to support the child. From 1960 to 2000, out-of-wedlock births grew by 600%

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

Due to the increase in single parenting, there has been an increase in child poverty. Potential ways to make single parents successful are to get them into

In today’s society it is not unusual to have a one-parent family with a young mother in charge. Teen mothers having children has increased so much over the years that it’s now a common occurance. Being a young single mother in today’s society is challenging but with the help of government assistance single mothers are finding their way.

Jamie Rush, a 15 year old girl and was in school like most teenage girls are, then over the speakers she was called into the nursery. Jamie went to a school with all teen moms with a built-in daycare center (Jamie Rush). Many teen moms have gone through but not all moms were lucky enough to have a school like this near them. To understand single-parents, first one must comprehend the issues, how it affects the parents, and how single-parents can get help.

Today, many households are headed by single women raising children, some with the presence or involvement of the father and others without. According to Vargas et al. (2016), parenting by a single mother is defined as a home sustained by a maternal caregiver for many reasons to include absence, neglect, divorce, or death of the other parent. According to Anderson (2002), half of American children at some point in their childhood will live in a household that’s being reared by a single parent, who is primarily the mother. Lowry (2005) uses the term “social disaster” when describing the epidemic of absenteeism of father from the household.

Throughout the year she has advocated on her clients behalf by finding community and economic resources for her client. Bianca works hard in planning effective and educational activities for the quarterly Parent Aide events. She has reached out to numerous organizations in order to help parents bridge the gap between racial minorities and the unemployment rate by helping them find jobs, apply for the jobs, and preparing giving them advice on the application and interview process. Bianca has created effective lessons for her client educating her on different styles of parenting attacking many social norms especially in the African-American community. In Shelby County the majority of children in the system are African-American and Parent Aides help combat this effort by teaching parents nurturing skills, finding resources, and helping them significantly improve their way of life. Bianca exemplifies this mission by being her client’s biggest cheerleaders and assessing her needs to provide her with appropriate resources. Many of the Parent Aide program participants are unaware of the resources provided to them. For example, Bianca’s client was unaware of the many different organizations that could help her family struggling economically as well as programs that can get her oldest son into college. Bianca not only located these resources for the client, but also reached out to them as an advocate for her client. Bianca also helped her client gain social competence when dealing with her children’s school, people who she was receiving services from, and others in her

“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?

In the essay “In Defense of a Single Motherhood” by Katie Roiphe, she explains how diverse families are becoming. She speaks on single mothers can be both back a good their child’s development. And how couples can also be good and bad to a child’s development. By giving different kinds of scenarios and research she gives her view on what the problem actually is. Ultimately, Roiphe’s essay “In Defense of a Single Motherhood” works as an Informative essay because of its adept use of ethos, pathos, and logos.

Single parent households are a sensitive topic that is highly debated today. This topic is one that has repercussions for both the parents and the children involved. However, regardless of the different consequences, these households continue to grow in the coming years. “In 1970, traditional two-parent married households dominated, making up 81 % of all households in the United States (US). By 2012 this number dropped to around 66 % … In 2012, approximately 21 million children, or 28 % of all children in the US, lived with one parent” (Kramer, 2015). It is interesting to look at the way the single parent households continue to grow throughout the years, all while being a hot topic for discussion on its consequences. When thinking about a book to read for this course, there was no real choice. I stumbled upon this book and knew right away that I could benefit from this book, as well as connect to it on a deeper level and relate to it personally.

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