Back in the day, a family consisted of a staying home wife that took care of the children and any necessary obligations in the house while the husband worked all day. Today, it is very unique for a child to be raised in a home where one parent is not involved with the family. Therefore, society’s perspective on a child raised by a single-parent, especially by moms is seen as inappropriate due to the fact, that they don’t do see the child capable of doing the same things as a child that lives with both parents in a traditional family. Even though, the child is raised by a single-mother it does not mean they will not be as successful as a child that is raised by both parents. Currently, there are many single-mothers that demonstrate each day …show more content…
To begin with, the financial stability can cause complications on the child and the mother as well. “In 2000, 25% of single-mother families lived in poverty” (Kunz, 2013, p.258). Based on the statistic above, many mothers take the drastic decision of getting two jobs in order to provide the best home possible for their children. As a result, single-mothers spend less time with their children affecting the child in a way where they feel the lack of involvement from the mother, especially on a simple daily routine like preparing for a school day. (Bianchi, 2011). Lastly, stress can also be considered as an obstacle that affects children negatively in a single-mother household. According to Kunz (2013), the witness of seeing the parents get a divorce and the constant argument over who gets custody can create major stress on the child. In most cases, these type of arguments can lead the child to blame themselves for the separation of their family. For this reason, it is important for the single-mother to reassure the child that they should not blame themselves for the decision taken. Therefore, in the end each obstacle children face with their single-mother will lead to positive outcomes that will benefit them to become a better person while also demonstrating to themselves …show more content…
Before I started collecting all the facts I definitely considered myself to be on the positive side of the argument. Now that I have both sides of the argument I have several things that took me by surprise. First of all, I was stunned to see the percentage of single-mother families that live in poverty. Before I started researching I thought the number was going to be much smaller. To see how everyday one single mom out of many today in America struggle financially and how their children are affected by it is incredible. On the other hand, I totally agree on the importance of constructing that bond with the single-parent and the child. When I came across this fact while reading I knew it fit perfectly my situation. Living this personally, has made me the person I am today. Having my dad absent from the family and only having my mom has created our relationship so much stronger. The sense of appreciation I have towards her for all the things she has done for me up until know can not be explained in words. In other words, it is awesome to have that parent that you are comfortable with where you are yourself around without hesitation. Being part of a traditional family with both parents or a single-parent family with either a mom or dad does not really
The idea of this article is to help out all the single mothers that raise healthy and strong children. She fights against these stereotypes and studies that say that single mothers are bad and raise bad children. All families are different, which Roiphe explains too, and so many outside factors come into play when raising a bad child and a good child. These studies do not show those, and she sheds light onto them. She compares and contrasts the conservative and liberal views to divide the readers in which one they stand, so then they can understand her whole
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.
There is much debate on what constitutes as a family today. However, Ball (2002) states, “The concept of the traditional family…is not an immutable one. It is a social construct that varies from culture to culture and, over time, the definition changes within a culture” (p. 68). There is a growing diversity of families today including the commonality of sole-parenting. In order to explore aspects of sole-parenthood objectively, I need to reflect and put aside my personal experience of growing up in sole-parent household. Furthermore, this essay will explore the historical origins, cultural aspects discussing the influences and implications of gender identity, and social structures of sole-parent families, as well as consider the implications in midwifery by applying the sociological imagination. Mills (2000/1959) describes the sociological imagination as “…a quality of mind that seems most dramatically to promise an understanding of the intimate realities of ourselves in connection with larger social realities” (p.15). In other words, the sociological imagination involves the ability to consider the relationships between personal experiences and those within society as a whole.
People are judged for being single parents, struggling to help their kids, but in reality being a single parent can be a good thing. Children that have both parents that work most of the time feel neglected and lonely which could lead to depression or acting out and rebellion later on in life. One of my family’s long times friends had this same exact problem. The family was in excellent financial shape because both parents worked. They had high level jobs working as doctors at the same hospital, but they never really made time for their children. The parents worked constantly away from home, and now the family is very dysfunctional. The children who are now adults never visit or talk to their parents. It shows that money is not everything, and that a stay at home mom is not just a suppressing stereotype it’s a beneficial tool to your children’s happiness and
This research paper will explore primarily the impact of African American single-parent households on the children that live in these environments. This is a very important issue and more awareness is needed. Research has provided evidence that single-parent households are one of many risk factors that can negatively affect a child’s educational outcome, emotional health and social behavior. Although not all single-parent family households have disadvantages, the focus of his study is to shed more light on the issues and offer solutions. For example, more policies are needed to reinforce fathers to pay child support. This alone will provide mothers with more money to help them better raise their children.
In the trajectory of humanity, single parenting has become a concept internationally accepted by most modern cultures. What exactly causes single parenthood? Well there are many factors in which could result in a single parent household. Death of a partner, divorce, and unintended pregnancy are just some of the causes of single parenthood. Based on this worldwide acknowledgement and understanding, single parenthood is usually aided by monetary help from the government or unions. Although financial help is available, the psychological effects a child goes through could never be fixed by any type of cash value. These psychological traumas and mental changes could affect the parent raising the child as well. Even with some financial help, single parents sometimes struggle to make ends meet. A study featured in Time magazine informed Americans that middle to lower class single parents will work 40+ hour weeks at minimum wage to provide for their child. If the parent is so busy at work, who's watching the child? Sometimes, the single parent might still have connection with their own families. Grandma and grandpa have to raise the child since the parent is hard at labor to provide for their offspring. Occasionally, some of our elderly folk do not have the competence to watch over a child. It might even be that the child is too energetic and could wear out the seniors. The child will then resort to the television, street, friends, etc to learn and grow. These influences might be negative for the child especially if they're not coming from the mother or father. An investigation of single parenting leads to the affirmation that raising a child by yourself is very difficult and must be approached very leniently and effectively.
Single parent homes are becoming more common as time goes on. With this growing number, the traditional nuclear family seems to be less relevant. Welna reports that “[t]he portion of children living with a single parent has jumped over a generation from 1 out of 20 to about 1 out of 5 children” (1999, p. xii). Within a few decades, single parenting became very common among the modern society. This is a large shift and changes civilization. However, this difference it isn’t expressed very much. Television doesn’t show a lot of representation for
When couples become parents, the first thing on their minds should be on how they will work as a team. Most parents will never choose to parent alone unless it was necessary. According to Zartler (2014), single-parenting has been a strongly pronounced trend in family behavior. Many families are single-parenting households. There are a lot of reasons that can cause a household to become a single-parenting household, and the most common reason is divorce. Most marriages just do not work out and this can cause a lot of stress within the family. There is a lot of hardships that can come with divorce including financial risks. Also, how the children will react can be hard as well. Most parents who are single parents can have a harder time dealing with the financial costs then parents that are married. There can definitely be negative impacts on single-parenting
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.
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.
A single parent household is a house with only one parent and one or multiple children. Single parent households are becoming very common in all racial and ethnic groups because it is no longer required for people to be married before they have children. Most households only have one parent because of divorce, never being married, separated, widowed, or because of business. The most common are, separation, divorce and just simply never being married. In these cases it is usually the mother who is the single parent. It is not too often that you see a father taking care of their child by themselves. This is usually because they do not know how, or they simply do not want to take care of their child. Statistics show that family structure has a big impact on certain characteristics of a child such as their attitude and level of respect. Children tend to be less respectful to people because they do not respect the parent who is not around. In many cases a child may become depressed living with only one parent causing them to get out of control and do things that they shouldn’t. Sometimes the child may feel like they are incomplete leaving them to do crazy things to find what they feel like they are missing. often times the child feels that they are the reason their parents are not together.
It has been said, children from two-parent families are better off. The setting is also a factor to take into consideration. The increase in single- parent homes has had an extensive and negative effect on children’s development. 50% of marriages end in divorce. We have young people with young minds having children, they can hardly take care of themselves at the age of 21, yet they have decided to bring four children into this world to be raised by one parent. In some communities, majority of the children are being raised by a single parent. Statistics have shown that children raised in a healthy single parent home have more problems emotionally, psychologically, in school, and with the law than those raised in healthy two-parent homes. No matter how good a single parent is, that a single parent can NEVER do for the child how two present, committed, parent partners share and work together; communicate together and solve problems together as equals.
Children in single parent homes live very complicated lifestyles and will often grow up with many hardships. Single parent homes are becoming normal in today’s society and are beginning to outnumber nuclear two parent families. Being a single parent is hard when it comes to balancing a job, money, a place to live and on top of that raising a child. The struggles of the parent takes an enormous toll on the child with lifelong effects.
As a child of a single parent household. I have first hand experience on the affects of having only one parent to not only take care of me but also show me and teach me about life and the correct choices that I should make in my life to better myself. Parenting is hard enough but parenting by yourself as a single parent is nearly impossible. You want to do everything for your kid to have a flawless life but the unfortunate news is that you can’t give them everything. Along the lines of helping your child in life as a single parent you are
Single Parent Struggle For many years, children growing up in a single parent family have been viewed as different. Being raised by only one parent seems impossible to many yet over the decades it has become more prevalent. In today’s society many children have grown up to become emotionally stable and successful whether they had one or two parents to show them the rocky path that life bestows upon all human beings. The problem lies in the difference of children raised by single parents versus children raised by both a mother and a father.