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Single-parent (also lonely as piss, sore loser and solo parent) is a parent who cares for one or more children without the assistance of the other biological parent in the home. "Single Parenthood" may vary according to the local laws of different nations or regions.

Single parenthood may occur for a variety of reasons. It could be opted for by the parent (as in divorce, adoption, artificial insemination, surrogate motherhood, or extramarital pregnancy), or be the result of an unforeseeable occurrence (such as a death, child abuse, child neglect or abandonment by the absentee biological parent).

The living and parenting arrangements for single parents are diverse. A number live in households with family, other adults or alone in home, apt, condos or government assisted housing. When parents separate, one party usually the primary parent has the children the majority of the time but secondary parents continue to share some type of parenting time and responsibility, to some extent, with their child.[1]

It is a term that is mostly used to suggest that one parent has the most of the day to day responsibility in the raising of the child or children. In western society in general, following separation, a child will end up with a 'primary carer' (the main carer, eg in UK over 90% of the time the mother[2]) and a 'secondary carer', normally the father. In the UK, and U.S.A for example, it is widely practiced, that it in the 'children's best interests' for the children to have both parents, encourage each parent to respect the other parents in the children presence and financial help through child support for the parent that carried the most responsibility when parents separate. Any benefits, tax credits and related government-sponsored assistance are given 100% to the primary carer, if the secondary parent does not have the ability to financially care for their child, thus the child falls 300% below the poverty line of society standards, this can be either mother, legal guardian or father.

Demographics

In 2006, 12.9 million families in the U.S. were headed by a single-parent, 80% of which were headed by a female.[3][4] Since 1994, the percentage of US households headed by a single parent has remained steady at around nine percent, although it has nearly doubled since 1970.[5]

In 2003, 14% of all Australiain households were single-parent families. Since 2001, 31% of babies born in Australia were born to unmarried mothers.[6] (Many calculated single mothers may not be single, as they may be living with the other biological parent without being formally married.)

In the United Kingdom, there are 5.9 million single parents as of 2005, with 3.1 million children.[7] About 1 out of 4 families with dependent children are single-parent families, nine percent of which have a male single-parent.[8][9][10][11] UK poverty figures show that 47% of single parent families are below the Government-defined poverty line (after housing costs).[12]

In South Korea, where societal disaproval of unmarried mothers is strong, 1.6% of births in 2007 were to unmarried women, and, of those women, 70% are estimated to have opted for adoption.[13]

Effects

See also: Implications of divorce

Single parent families are at a higher risk of poverty than couple families, and on average single mothers have poorer health than couple mothers.[14]

Single parenting is strongly associated with an increased risk of a number of negative social, behavioral and emotional outcomes for children. However while the association is strong, on balance the effect size and the actual numbers affected are modest. Most children from single parent families do well. Many factors influence how children develop in single-parent families: the parent's age, education level, and occupation; the family's income, and the family's support network of friends and extended family members (including the non-resident parent, if available). Disadvantages in these factors that often accompany single parenting appear to cause most of this association rather than single parenting itself.[15][16]

Shocking headlines do get published; for example a 2003 Swedish study, stated that those living with a single parent were about three times more likely to kill themselves or end up in the hospital after an attempted suicide by the age of 26 than children living with two parents, however this only happened to 2.2 percent of girls and 1 percent of boys.[17] The finding is concerning, also because it implies greater childhood unhappiness amongst those who do not kill themselves before the age of 26. The question naturally follows, do older offspring kill themselves at an increased rate?

A variety of viewpoints do exist, with different readings of the research possible. The Institute for the Study of Civil Society reports that children of single parents, after controlling for other variables like family income, are more likely to have problems.[18] There are impacts of sole parenting on children, however the weight of the evidence it is suggested, do not appear to support a view that sole parents are a major cause of societal ills and are doing irreparable damage to their children.[16]. Yet suicide is irreparable damage, and less visible damage may also be termed irreparable, in terms of emotional, social or behavioural outcomes if they last for the duration of a life, or increase anti-social behaviour.

Assistance and help

A common way for single parents to seek and receive help is over the Internet by conversing with other single parents in similar situations. There are various websites available, such as Only Dads and Only Mums offering discussion forums and helpful advice to those parents who find themselves alone. Many single parent communities offer chat boards for pregnant mothers and single parents through each stage of child development.

Choice parent

A choice parent is a parent who voluntarily becomes a single parent to a biologic or adoptive child from the very beginning, rather than by a later separation from a partner.[19]

A woman may voluntarily become a choice parent by artificial insemination or use of a cervical cap conception device with donor sperm. In many countries, e.g. Sweden this is prohibited. Swedes, however, may go to Denmark, where it is legal to have an insemination. Women who choose insemination or adoption to become parents are also referred to as "choice mums" or "choice mothers". These women, many of whom are over 35, tend to be educated, career women. Children of this group of single moms are less likely to be at risk of poverty.

People who are striving to become single parents may be termed choice mum aspirers or tryers, while people who are seriously thinking about doing going through the procedure may be termed choice mum considerers or thinkers.[19]

A small but growing number of men also choose to become single parents, and they may be referred to as "choice fathers". It is achieved through surrogacy or adoption.

In history and fiction

There have been several famous single parents who were also actors, vocalists, and politicians. Murphy Brown, one famous fictional character in the sitcom of the same name, was a career woman working in a TV news firm. She became pregnant and had a baby in the comedy series' fourth season. The character's decisions became a nation-wide interest when she was referred to by several US family values-oriented politicians, including then-vice president, Dan Quayle, who openly criticized the show during a 1992 speech in San Francisco.[20]

Other examples include:

Public policy debate

Single parents have often been the focus of public policy debate. The debate has included both practical considerations around the role of government in their support, and moral ones in response to the decline of the traditional family. The moral debate tends to divide between liberal and conservative positions with liberals welcoming or accepting the changes in family structures, while conservatives decry the declines in marriage and the rises in divorce and cohabitation.

The major issue facing single mothers and their children in the United States today is Poverty. Female-headed single parent families comprise 50% of all families in poverty (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1979). Statistics show in the U.S. Census Bureau that children raised by both parents grow up with more financial and educational advantages.

Hence, a policy debate tends to split along similar lines with fiscal conservatives emphasizing a minimal role for government and an employment focus, while liberals tend to support more government involvement in an attempt to minimize poverty through things like social programs such as welfare and insufficient child support. [citation needed]

Other Debates

Other debates consist of whether or not children from single family homes encounter and engage in violence, which can affect their adult lives.

Also, the debate about whether or not the fact that children from single family homes can become emotionally distracted or upset and preoccupied by the exposure of their family lives, which affects their education in a dire way. One side thinks that adolescences education might be deferred or they can drop out completely due to parental efficacy. Their attitudes toward the importance of an education and the investment and time the put in their children’s education can determine whether the child will enroll in higher education as an adult while the other side believes that it is other factors that contribute to this dire affect in their education.

See also

References

  1. ^ Callister, Paul and Burks, Stuart (2006) "Two Parents, Two Households: New Zealand data collection, language and complex parenting" Family Commission (accessed February 18, 2008)
  2. ^ http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/8904/response/20874/attach/html/3/FOI%201267%2009%20response%20final.pdf.html
  3. ^ http://www.census.gov/apsd/techdoc/cps/cpsmar06.pdf (pdf)
  4. ^ The Bachelor Life Includes a Family By MIREYA NAVARRO. Published: September 5, 2008
  5. ^ Bergman, Mike (March 27, 2007). "Single-Parent Households Showed Little Variation Since 1994". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2009-08-31.
  6. ^ [http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/0/F4B15709EC89CB1ECA25732C002079B2?opendocument "Australia Single Parents Families"
  7. ^ As of 2004. Office for National Statistics - Focus on Families
  8. ^ As of 2004. Labour Force Survey - Focus on Families; see table 1.2
  9. ^ "One Parent Families Today: The Facts" (2005), One Parent Families, London
  10. ^ Labour Market Review (2006), Office for National Statistics
  11. ^ households2005-final.xls2005 Office for National Statistics - General Household Survey; see table 3.6
  12. ^ 2005/06 Department for Work and Pensions
  13. ^ Choe Sang-Hun. (October 7, 2009). "Group Resists Korean Stigma for Unwed Mothers." The New York Times.
  14. ^ Millar, Jane and Ridge, Tess (2001)"Families, Poverty, Work and Care: A review of literature on lone parents and low income couple families" (DWP Research Report No.153)
  15. ^ Rickard, Maurice "Children of Lesbian and Single Women Parents" Research Note no. 41 2001-02, Social Policy Group, Parliament of Australia (accessed February 18, 2008)
  16. ^ a b Mackay, Ross (2005) "The impact of family structure and family change on child outcomes: a personal reading of the research literature" Social Policy Journal of New Zealand (accessed February 18, 2008)
  17. ^ The Lancet, January 25, paraphrased by CBS News' Emma Ross, "Single-Parent Kids More At Risk"
  18. ^ Experiments in Living: The Fatherless Family
  19. ^ a b http://www.singlemothersbychoice.com Single Mothers By Choice
  20. ^ McQueen, Michael. Quayle's Criticisms Of `Murphy Brown' Send Sparks Flying --- Pregnancy on Sitcom Proves Fertile Ground for Debate Over Values and Abortion. Wall Street Journal. May 21, 1992.
  • Bankston, Carl L. and Caldas, Stephen J., Family Structure, Schoolmates, and Racial Inequalities in School Achievement, Journal of Marriage and the Family 60:3 (1998), 715-723.
  • U.S. Census Bureau. 31 Jan. 2010. http://www.census.gov/
  • Dependent Children: 1 in 4 in lone-parent families," National Statistics Online, National Statistics, United Kingdom (July 7, 2005) . Accessed at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=1163 on July 17, 2006.
  • Geographic Distribution: London has most lone-parent families," National Statistics Online, National Statistics, United Kingdom (July 7, 2005). Accessed at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=1166 on July 17, 2006.
  • Hilton, J., Desrochers, S.,Devall, E. Comparison of Role Demands, Relationships, and Child Functioning is Single-Mother, Single-Father, and Intact Families. Journal of Divorce and Remarriage ,35(?) 29-56.
  • Mulkey, L.; Crain, R; Harrington, A.M. One-Parent Households and Achievement: Economic and Behavioral Explanations of a Small Effect. Sociology of Education, 1992, 65, 1, Jan, 48-65
  • Pong, Suet-ling The School Compositional Effect of Single Parenthood on 10th Grade Achievement, Sociology of Education 71:1 (1998), 23-42.
  • Quinlan, Robert J. Father absence, parental care, and female reproductive development. Evolution and Human Behavior, Volume 24, Issue 6, November 2003, Pages 376-390
  • Richards, Leslie N.; Schmiege, Cynthia J. Family Relations, Vol. 42, No. 3, Family Diversity. (Jul., 1993), pp. 277-285.
  • Risman, Barbara J., and Park, Kyung. (1988). Just The Two of Us: Parent-Child Relationships in Single-Parent Homes. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 1988, 50, 4, Nov, 1049.
  • Sacks, G. (September 4, 2005) “Boys without fathers is not a logical new idea.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock, Arkansas)
  • States News Service. (2005 July 20). “America’s Children: Family Structure and Children’s Well-Being
  • U.S. Census Bureau. 31 Jan. 2010. http://www.census.gov/
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