The Challenges Of Balancing Single Parenting With The Pursuance Of A Four Year Degree

Earning an education could cost you for your entire life, especially if you do not apply for the various types of financial aid. After earning their degree, several students do not earn enough money with the field they have chosen to pay off their debt, making the degree seem pointless. Families that pay for their children’s tuition often wonder, like Linda Lee, if their child is getting what they pay for. Parents pay for the tuition because they do not want their children to miss out on the “college experience.” However, when their child fails to make the right decisions or simply acts their age, it leaves the family wondering if they have made a

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

With the growing importance of higher education, more people than ever are attending college. According to a middle-class parent, “[Higher education] seen as a means of developing a career and getting secure employment.” (30, Higher Education, social class and social mobility) Moreover, “parents believe that their children need a university education to get on in life… over the past decades (parents) fearful that without a degree their children will be in danger of downward social mobility. (32, Higher

The cost of college tuition can affect the student's life in a way that one would not think like in their future. College stresses students in high school because they have to worry about if their grades are up to par and do they meet the college or university requirements. But more of students stress comes in the future. Fact is proving that most of college students go back home and live with their parents because they are not financially stable to afford their own home because they are still paying off loans. A percent of 85 this year’s graduating class of this year will be forced to move back home in order to help cope with student loan debt.Only 57% of people between 25 and 44 own a home today, a 4% decrease since 1980, ("15 Surprising Side Effects of Rising College Costs"). Another way is that college graduates put off having children because of them not being financially stable online universities recently did a survey on how many college students have children the results shows that debt, largely from college, was causing 20% of young adults to delay having children,even if they wanted them. Kids can be a little expensive , and college debt may mean that many young couples that are wanting to start family have to hold off on adding to their family until they can get loan debt under control. ("15 Surprising Side Effects of Rising College Costs"). Also, it

Families are now aiming low when it comes to college- or are simply not going at all. Money could play a huge part in this decision- after all, the cost of college has skyrocketed over the years, and so has the amount of student loan debt. This is something even Leonhardt admits, stating that, because of this, only about 33 percent of young adults get a four-year college degree today, while another 10 percent receive a two-year degree (Leonhardt). And even though many colleges offer financial aid packages, that money may soon be cut and the cost of college will continue to grow. It is true that, in my personal experience, just because a student is awarded financial aid does not mean they have a golden ticket to University. This leaves many desperate students the only option of taking out as many loans as they think they can handle- often more than they should. Debt is not a new issue for America, but it is still a problem. Although David Autor, an M.I.T. economist, laments: “not sending [young adults] to college would be a disaster”, no one can ignore the rising rates of loan defaults, and some think it

They do not have a significant other 37 percent of single-parents families lack self sufficiency and are officially poor compared with 7 percent of married-couple families (Rector). Welfare can help the underachieving single parents that do not have a stable income. This proves and shows that some individuals can and want to be

In the last decade, students and parents alike have begun to question the effectiveness of receiving a college education. Stories of students graduating college with outstanding student loans, being unable to find a job, or feeling overqualified for a position continually increase. In the same manner, the number of students apprehensive about refraining from entering the workforce for an additional four years while simultaneously spending thousands of dollars for an education that in the end may not assure them a job with an adequate income, increases. The issue then is to determine whether or not the cost of college is worth the outcome.

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)

Many of these young adults told researchers they would consider going back to school, but full-time work and family responsibilities, again, keep many of them away. A third of students surveyed said even if their tuition and books were fully covered, they could not go back to school because they could not afford to support themselves. At that point it is leaving them unemployed and looking for a

School and education happens to be one of the main things affected in the lives of both African American males and females living in single parent households. Parents tend to become less involved in the childs academics and social activities in school from the stress of being a single parent and having so much responsibility on them. It seemingly gets worse by the time the child reaches high school. One survey asked high school students whether their parents helped them with their school work and supervised their social activities. Students whose parents separated between the sophomore and senior years reported a loss of involvement and supervision compared to students whose parents stayed together (Mclanahan, n.d.). This usually leads to the child performing poorly in the classroom and on assignments. The child becomes less motivated to attend school, which leads to poor attendance. Poor attendance and lack of motivation sometimes results in the child dropping out of school. If the parents live apart, the probability that their children will drop out of high school rises by 11 percentage points. And for every child who actually drops out of school, there are likely to be three or four more whose performance is affected even though they manage to graduate (Mclanahan, n.d). Children born to unmarried parents are slightly more likely to drop out of school and become teen mothers than children born to married parents who divorce. But the difference is small compared to the

As unskilled jobs become more unreliable to support families, it has become increasingly clear that the path to success in America lies with education. A majority of Americans now believe that a college education is necessary for their children, which can be contrasted with most

Most American values include family and education. Yet, when combined it can cause strain, obstacles difficult to overcome, and stigmas. Being a single parent is not easy. Society says you should get married first, then have children. They also say, you should find a career path that will help you support your family. While society has their models for success things don’t always work out as individual’s plan, which is why I believe, single parents seeking secondary education need more assistance for child care. Currently, in Rhode Island child care assistance is offered to those in a specific training program or working at least twenty hours during the day per week. Child care is not offered to college students. I can remember when I first started college and I had a young child and was denied child care because I worked during night hours and the fact that I was a full time student did not count for anything. Luckily for me, my family and I all sat down to figure out a plan to make sure I could still continue to pursue my goals. My family was my child care system. This was very frustrating to me because you have to go through the whole process of applying, wait about 3-4 weeks just to be denied. I had a wonderful support system that stepped in at a turning point in my life, but it made me wonder. What happens to those that want to pursue school, have young children, and don’t have people they can depend on or trust? What about the parents trying to set a good example, but

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

Single parents have it hard from balancing day to day life, to handling a full-time job, balancing financial needs, making sure their children are taking care of which are just the basic needs that a single parent does. Many single parents take that leap of going back to school to better and secure their future for their family. However, single parents that make the choice of going to back to school to better themselves go through a lot of issues or self-neglect. Because of the self-neglect and the overbearing weight of handling everyday life and college life, researchers have found out that between "finances, family, and relationship difficulties disproportionately affected single parents, who reported nearly twice as many suicide attempts as their counterparts." (Shenony.2016) Many people can sympathize that being a single parent is hard but being a single parent in college comes with a lot of challenges due to trying to juggle many hats at once such as financial issues, balancing a stable home life for their dependents, and staying on top of class assignments, these situations would be tough to manage but can eventually cause long-term mental and physical challenges in the future while focusing on building a better future. During this time of our economic status, the rate of the mental and physical stress of single parents in college could possible double within the next year.