Essay about The Results of Children in Fatherless Homes

Fatherless homes in the black community is at 57.6% (NCF, 2017). One of many issues of a fatherless home is children have less structure and lack of discipline; i.e. Chicago. The children suffer the most. I believe children need both parents in the household to be complete (“not all”). I believe if women have father’s in their lives (a positive male figure at minimum) it could help their decision in choosing the right mate will help this issue.

The role of the father, a male figure in a child’s life is a very crucial role that has been diminishing over the years. An absent father can be defined in two ways; the father is physically not present, or the father is physically present, but emotionally present. To an adolescent, a father is an idolized figure, someone they look up to (Feud, 1921), thus when such a figure is an absent one, it can and will negatively affect a child’s development. Many of the problems we face in society today, such as crime and delinquency, poor academic achievement, divorce, drug use, early pregnancy and sexual activity can be attributed to fathers being absent during adolescent development (Popenoe, 1996; Whitehead, 1993). The percentage of

About four in every ten children born in America in 2008 were born outside of marriage, and they are disproportionately minority and poor. “Only about 6 percent of college-educated mothers’ births are nonmarital versus 60 percent of those of high school dropouts” (5). Scholars responded to this by studying single-parent families.

All across the globe, there are children growing up in single-parent households, and through some research

In our society, we carry an ideological assumption that a “normal” family consists of the man working to provide for the family and the women takes on the role of stay-at-home mom (Dow 1992).

For various reasons, many children in the United States are living without their fathers in their homes or absent from their lives entirely. This is an issue all across the world and the children are having to deal with the disadvantages caused by the lack of support from their fathers. This issue has a significant effect on society and can be viewed and interpreted from the three sociological perspectives. As a result of many studies, it was found that children raised in father absent homes almost universally experience disadvantages such as: worse health, poorer academic achievement, and a less enjoyable educational experience. There are many variables that need to be taken into effect when considering

Today, non-traditional families dominate the scene. The “normal” family is now uncommon in our society (Shields 562). Teachers have to be cautious when assuming every child has a mommy or daddy. Social workers must no longer be surprised when their clients are actually grandparents taking care of their grandchildren. Some children may have two daddies, or some only have a mommy. The list goes on. The culprit creating these unusual families is not always divorce and can include the death of a parent, unwed mothers, or single-sex parents (Shields 562). New families are not required to be biologically related. In an article about her non-traditional family, “Why Do We Marry?” Jane Smiley points out that people with numerous marriages or partners extend the definition of family (564). She writes, family dinners consisted of “me, my boyfriend, his daughter and son by his second wife, my daughters by my second husband, and my seven-year-old son by my third husband” (563, 564). Relationships begin to resemble several broken, rerouted, and

It is evident the messages of motherhood changed throughout the decades. In the 1950s the nuclear family was portrayed as the ideal family—mother, father and two children. It was during this decade in which the middle class was created. Mothers stayed at home to care for their children and the home. They were always nicely dressed, carried an immense smile and were ready to serve their husbands and children. I recognize the messages about motherhood being different from the 1950s to the 1960s in that the role of motherhood was socially influenced by women’s skin tone. Although slavery had ended—African Americans were yet to be free. White children from wealthy families were being raised by women of color while their mothers took care of solely

Healthy family systems, such as the traditional family, with a father and mother, was no longer the majority in America, in 2014. “Fewer than half (46%) of U.S. kids younger than 18 years of age are living in a home with two married heterosexual parents in their first marriage. This is a marked change from 1960, when 73% of children fit this description, and 1980, when 61% did.”4

American families have never been as diverse as they are today. There is a constant changing definition of what we call “family”. We as Americans are straying further and further from the idea of a classic nuclear family. One of the biggest reasons is a dramatic rise in kids living with a single parent. In 2014, just 14% of children younger than 18 lived with a stay-at-home mother and a working father who were in their first marriage (Livingston, 2015). This research will address in depth why households are now more diverse than ever, what’s the normal family now, and why aren’t the laws adjusting to how the average American family lives today.

Today, in a world of the “postmodern family” the traditional lines of family structure are blurred. Children may come from diverse types of homes, or a couple, married or not may choose to have no children and consider

In recent decades the family institution has undergone a dramatic transformation focusing on increased divorce rates, cohabitation rates, and the number of children raised in step and single marital families (Amato, 2000; Bumpass & Lu, 2000; Graefe & Lichter, 1999). Due to the increase of divorce rates children move more frequently and deal with additional family transitions throughout their childhood (Brown, 2006). As these changes slowly increase, about 40% of kids who are born to wedded, two-biological- parent families have a higher chance of parental divorce prior to reaching adulthood(Amato,2000). In addition, these children will likely experience a multitude of family disruptions and transitions as parents decide to remarry and progress with new partners. The family atmospheres during these times are incredibly detrimental to the growth and development of these children (Sun& Li, 2009). Research studies show that parental divorce can compromise educational success for their children. Children in two-parent families have noticeably higher test scores than children who are in single parent families and also had lower chances of graduating from high school (Sun & Li, 2001). One of the rationalizations for the academic difficulty in divorced

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

Children and single parenting begins with the divorce of a couple who have children. The majority of children live with their mother. Non custodial fathers usually have less contact with their children, and involvement usually declines as time goes by. Since most single-parent households are mother-headed their income is usually below that of a man, this causes economic distress and fewer opportunities for educational and extracurricular experiences for the child. Economic constraints may limit growth enhancing experiences. Even children whose fathers pay substantial child support are faced with limiting experiences. Children hate divorce because having two of the most important people in your life living apart hurts. For children,

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.