Single Parent Families

Examples of Single Parent Families in the following topics:

• Family Structures

  • The two-parent nuclear family has become less prevalent, and alternative family forms such as, homosexual relationships, single-parent households, and adopting individuals are more common.
  • A single parent is a parent who cares for one or more children without the assistance of the other biological parent.
  • Historically, single-parent families often resulted from death of a spouse, for instance during childbirth.
  • Single-parent homes are increasing as married couples divorce, or as unmarried couples have children.
  • Increasingly single parent families are a result of out of wedlock births, especially those due to unintended pregnancy.

• Replacing Family Functions

  • Family types that are replacing the traditional nuclear family include single parent families, cohabitation, and gay and lesbian families.
  • A single parent family usually refers to a parent who has most of the day-to-day responsibilities in the raising of the child or children, who is not living with a spouse or partner, or who is not married.
  • The dominant caregiver is the parent with whom the children reside the majority of the time; if the parents are separated or divorced, children live with their custodial parent and have visitation with their noncustodial parent.
  • He or she may share a relationship with a partner, but lead a single life style.
  • "Freedom to Parent: Lesbian & Gay Families" shows how bans on adoptions and fostering by same-sex couples end up hurting thousands of children who are desperate for good homes.

• Family Life

  • Historically, working class rural populations in agrarian regions have had larger families than wealthier urban families.
  • Social class has both a cause and an effect relationship with family composition.
  • For example, single-parent households are likely to have a lower social class because they violate social norms.
  • At the same time, single-parent families can contribute to financial and social instability.
  • A single parent will often face higher costs (in the form of paid childcare), lower earnings (loss of the second parent's income or loss of time spent at work), or both.

• The Decline of the Traditional Family

  • One parent households, cohabitation, same sex families, and voluntary childless couples are increasingly common.
  • Family structures of some kind are found in every society.
  • One recent trend illustrating the changing nature of families is the rise in prevalence of single-parent families.
  • In the 1960s and 1970s, the change in the economic structure of the United States–-the inability to support a nuclear family on a single wage–-had significant ramifications on family life.
  • Summarize the prevalence of single parents, cohabitation, same-sex couples, and unmarried individuals

• Unmarried Mothers

  • With the rise of single-parent households, unmarried mothers have become more common in the United States.
  • One recent trend illustrating the changing nature of families is the rise in prevalence of the single-parent household.
  • Since the 1960s, there has been a marked increase in the number of children living with a single parent.
  • A single parent, Beagle says it's tough to attend school and raise a daughter simultaneously, but with the support of her family, she's able to make it work.
  • Discuss the factors involved in the increasing number of single-parent households

• New Developments in Families

  • One recent trend illustrating the changing nature of families is the rise in prevalence of single-parent or one-parent households.
  • In the 1950s, most people believed that single-parent households were "immoral," but by 1978, only 25% of Americans held that belief.
  • (i.e., the inability to support a nuclear family on a single wage), had significant ramifications on family life.
  • However, despite their ability to support their children, single parents often struggle financially to make ends meet.
  • There is some evidence, however, that when single parents move in with their parents (i.e., the child's grandparents), the odds of the single-parent led family falling under the poverty line are reduced by 80%.

• Parenthood

  • Permissive or Indulgent parenting is most popular in middle class families in Western culture.
  • In these family settings, a child's freedom and autonomy are valued and parents tend to rely mostly on reasoning and explanation.
  • There is no single or definitive model of parenting.
  • Slow Parenting: allowing the child to develop their own interests and allowing them to grow into their own person; lots of family time; allowing children to make their own decisions; limit electronics, simplistic toys
  • Family planning is the decision whether and when to become parents, including planning, preparing, and gathering resources.

• Children of Divorce and Impact of Divorce

  • Children of divorced parents are reported to have a higher chance of behavioral problems than those of non-divorced parents.
  • The child's gender, personality, the amount of conflicts with the parents, and support of family and friends all contribute to the effects of divorce on a child.
  • Children of divorced parents (those entirely from unhappy families) are reported to have a higher chance of behavioral problems than those of non-divorced parents (a mix of happy and unhappy families).
  • Constance Ahron, who has published books suggesting there may be positive effects for children, interviewed ninety-eight divorced families' children for We're Still Family: What Grown Children Have to Say About Their Parents' Divorce.
  • In previous generations, being divorced or single was seen differently than it is now.

• What is a family?

  • " You might say your parents, your siblings, and/or your spouse.
  • a mixed group of singles sharing a town home in a large city
  • This notion of parents and children as family is called a nuclear family and is a recent invention of the Western World that has (in some cases) been sold as a form of "tradition. " It is a social construct that does not necessarily reflect the reality of family life for many people.
  • The structure of families traditionally hinges on relations between parents and children, between spouses, between members of long term relationships (romantic, economic or otherwise) or all of the above.
  • As described below and shown in the figure below, variations on monogamous relationships are increasingly prevalent (i.e., same-sex marriage), as are alternatives to monogamy (e.g., single-parent households and polyamory).

• Day Care

  • Child care is provided in nurseries or crèches, or by a nanny or family child care provider caring for children in their own homes.
  • Most smaller, for-profit day cares operate out of a single location.
  • Some advocate that day care is inherently inferior to parental care.
  • From a parental perspective, good daycare can complement good parenting.
  • Early childhood education is the formal teaching and care of young children by people other than their family in settings outside of the home.