Single parenthood is an overall social issue struggled with throughout the United States, but nothing compares to a single mother trying to provide and take care of her children. As we explore a study done by Rosanna Hertz in her novel “Single by Chance, Mothers by Choice,” we will begin to understand the unique differences these women go through in their daily lives. First, we will view her theory and then critique her findings, what she did wrong and what she did right. After we will view other similar studies to Hertz that will either support or contradict her findings.
How would we personally define a family? Would it be the traditional mother and father household with children? Would we even think that a single mother would also be
…show more content…
While they mainly focus on widowed and divorced single parent families, they discuss how children being raised in divorced single-mother families have lower education levels, occupational status and happiness in adulthood (Biblarz and Gottainer 2004). This contradicts Hertz hypothesis that single mothers are successful in raising their children, without the educational struggle. These struggles come from poverty and the well-known idea that women make less than men, so it's harder for them to support a child as well as themselves. Another article by Gene Brody and Douglas Flor show the same thing, stating that 82% of single mothers live in poverty. According to their study children living in these households struggled with cognitive competence, social competence and internalizing problems (Brody and Flor 2008). Looking at these two articles, I do believe that Hertz didn't look at the poverty levels of these women, but rather their social lives. This shows that her research didn’t go in depth with the children and mainly focused on the mothers and because of that it weakens her overall …show more content…
Hertz novel expresses that these women are strong and capable of being a single mother and providing for their child. While her research does lack in some areas, like lesbian women and her stance on the importance of fathers, she is able to show that women can be single parents. However, according to other sociologists who have researched the same issue, households run by a single mother show signs of poverty, especially in instances of divorce and widowing. While Hertz gave a strong analysis, those other articles proved that she needed to go more in-depth than a simple interview with single mothers. It’s easy in interviews to get false information from the parties you are trying to get information from. While she shows weaknesses in her presentation overall she understood and discussed her topic well, and in my opinion, she wasn't biased towards the research in any
I believe it is very difficult to raise a child alone as well as pay for a home. Also, like Edin and Kefalas explained, children raised by 2 parents have a much greater chance of entering college and not going to jail. However, I do agree with some perspectives of the poor women. The idea of having autonomy over one 's life, or working very hard to raise a child as a source of fulfillment can both inspire the mother and even inspire others to do so. Ultimately, I believe that this decision would make sense for me. I think it is possible to raise a child successfully out of wedlock despite it being difficult. It also very interesting, these experiences gave the mother 's important life lessons. As Edin and Kefalas describe: “Women openly, and often eagerly, shared life lessons they had learned about relationships, marriage, and children.” (16.3) What is most interesting to me is the life lessons they learned through raising a child out of wedlock. I think that this is one of the most important parts of the experience because these life lessons can be shared with other individuals. In essence, when a poor women raises a child out of wedlock, it is not only for the success of herself, but it can be for the success of society as the life lessons the mother learns can be
Family used to be a single unit, consisting of a husband, wife and children. This unit was widely thought as a group based on marriage and biological parenthood as sharing a common residence and united by ties of affection, obligations, care, support, and a sense of common identity. However, due to the change in values, laws, family structure and social trends, the definition of family has been defined as a married or cohabiting couple with or without children living under one roof, children may be dependent or independent. (Office for national statistics) (2006)
When Dyk is explaining poverty of the poor rural Southern Black Women, she also says that, “You will be encouraged by their strength and resiliency.” (Dyk178). This means that even though some women have to prostitute themselves and face domestic as well as community violence, they keep on trying to find different ways to earn, so that they can feed their children and give them a better life. Similarly, Coontz presents it in a different way and call it economic independence. One of the reasons why divorce rates are high now, is because women are economically independent because they are educated. They did used to earn in the past, but now they have control over their income and they don’t put up with things like men abusing them or domestic violence; this shows that women have become stronger economically and emotionally as compared to how they were in the past. Those who criticize women for working and not spending time with their children, Coontz states that, “Kids do better when their mothers are happy with their lives.” (Coontze98).
The struggles Cecelia faced as a single mother working to complete a degree and support herself and her son did strike a familiar tone with me. Although I did raise my daughter as a single mother in California for almost six years, unlike Cecelia I was well employed, had completed my bachelor’s degree, and was in my thirties. Even so I also struggled more than occasionally with bias against my status as a single mother, albeit a successful professional, and the unanticipated ways this affected my daughter. There were clear biases evinced by teachers, child care workers, doctors, childless friends and coworkers, who all believed that they had not only the right to judge my d...
This book is a study of the personal tales of many single mothers, with intentions to understand why single mothers from poor urban neighborhoods are increasingly having children out of wedlock at a young age and without promise of marrying their fathers. The authors chose to research their study in Philadelphia’s eight most devastated neighborhoods, where oppression and danger are high and substantial job opportunities are rare. They provide an excellent education against the myth that poor young urban women are having children due to a lack of education on birth control or because they intend to work the welfare system. Instead, having children is their best and perhaps only means of obtaining the purpose, validation and companionship that is otherwise difficult to find in the areas in which they live. For many of them, their child is the biggest promise they have to a better future. They also believe that though their life may not have been what they want, they want their child to have more and better opportunities and make it their life’s work to provide that.
The first aspect of family Coontz talks about is single parent families, which she explains
What is a single parent? Is it one who destroys their child’s life? Is it one who ultimately cannot raise a minor on their own? Or is it one who dedicates their lives to the well being of their kid? Imagine a parent, and for whatever reason they were left alone to raise a child. That parent you imagined has to work long hours just to put a meal on the table. That parent has to play the role of the mother and father. That parent has no financial support. Unfortunately, in our society, this image of a single parent is looked down upon. There are people that don’t realize how much a single parent goes through to give their child a better life.
Single parenting can be considered a controversial topic expressed in a myriad of movies, TV shows, books, and magazines. A controversy because it has become something that is commonly seen as a social norm. Yet, it is still taboo to the point that those involved are often negatively judged for it. Statistically 41% of births are to single women (“The Single Mom Mess”). This social swing has awakened several dormant authors and screenwriters to use it as the basis of innumerable amounts of work. For example, in 1988 renowned author, Barbara Kingsolver published
...ollack talks on breaking down gender stereotypes; he seems to perpetuate them by seeming to insist that the mom be the central part of upbringing. Extensive sections on single moms but the only discussion of single dad households is two sentences which state that research showing relatively positive outcomes (i.e. relative to mom getting sole custody, not relative to intact families) is controversial. Pollack notes that Dads are more likely to suffer from depression after a divorce but does not draw the logical reason. Dads lose far more than moms in a divorce. Yes moms economic status goes down more, but she tends to keep what is really important... the kids. Even today the courts are horribly biased against men in divorce cases. A mom must be totally unfit to not get at least joint custody, dad has to fight for minimal visitation rights. These are however minor quibbles with the book, the central principle of the book: Today’s boys are in big trouble, and much of that trouble stems from never being allowed to show any negative emotion other than anger, is a very important one. Boys are not toxic they need our love and support, even if they put on a tough self-sufficient disguise.
In today’s society, the amounts of single-parent households are increasing and this is another reason for the existence of childhood poverty. Statistics show that children living in single-parent homes are five times more likely to be poor. More people are getting divorced and are also having children outside of wedlock. It has also been said that women rather than men head about 90% of single-parent families. One of the
The reduced earnings of women have an impact on 7.4 million households run by single working women. Over two point one million families consisting of working single mothers were considered poor. An added two point four million working single mothers were severely struggling to barely make ends meet. They were falling between 100 and 200 pe...
...s strongest anti-poverty weapon. Gender and race play huge roles in influencing poverty. The feminization of poverty will continue increasing if single women do not get married. But that is not to say that there is not an exception to this problem, there are some single women that do not carry this stigma. Was it extremely challenging for my mother? Yes it sure was, but at the end of it all, my mother survived and is doing well for herself without the help from no one. My mother said, “ It felt so good knowing she was able to do what the society said she could not do”. My mother does not encourage going through life as a single mother, it is much harder than it looks. My mother is an example to women that you can succeed, she is a motivation for other women out there that there is a chance of making it and succeeding without ending up in the ongoing poverty cycle.
The Family structure has changed significantly in the last fifty years. With higher percentages of marriage ending in divorce, and higher rates of childbearing out of wedlock, single parent families are increasing rapidly. “Seventy percent of all the children will spend all or part of their lives in a single-parent household.” (Dowd) Studies have shown that the children of these families are affected dramatically, both negatively and positively. Women head the majority of single- parent families and as a result, children experience many social problems from growing up without a father. Some of these problems include lack of financial support, and various emotional problems by not having a father around, which may contribute to problems later in life. At the same time, children of single-parent homes become more independent because they learn to take care of themselves, and rely on others to do things for them.
Being a single mother is not an easy feat. Raising children alone and in broken homes has proven to be difficult for women across the globe. These difficulties seem to multiple when single mother hood takes place in an African American household. Why does this happen? Is it self-inflicted or is there something deeper going on in the mind of the black women that subconsciously leads some to end up being single black mothers? I seek to better understand the dynamic of single black motherhood from a psychological and sociological perspective. Looking at the works of womanist theologians, a solution to this hardship will hopefully arise.
Single parenthood culture seems appealing to many married people. However, married individuals are forced to battle with elements like faithfulness and life-long commitment to one individual, which may be boring in some cases. However, single parents, especially single mothers encounter serious challenges related to parenting. Single parenting is a succession of constant mental torture because of ineptness, self-scrutiny, and remorse. At some point, single parents will often encounter serious psychological problems some graduating to stress and eventual depression. Again, there are far-reaching problems that force single mothers to a set of economic or social hardships. Social hardships are evident as address in this research.