Facts About Single Parents
Unfortunately, single parenting has seemingly become an acceptable norm. There were over 20 million single parents in the United States in the year 2000 according to the US Census Bureau. Certainly, the worldwide number of people who are challenged with single parenting is exponentially higher.
In typical cases, a parent may become a single parent if left alone after divorce, after abandonment by the other parent, or after the other parent has died. Some individuals opt to become parents out of wedlock through artificial insemination or adoption.
The most common type of single parent home is one with a mother only. This is the most common because it is much easier for the father to get out of the circumstance. The mother has to give birth to the child and oftentimes this leaves them with more of a connection with the child. However, a single father home is the fastest growing type of family situation.
The problems that single mothers face are that they have a more difficult time providing for their families because women generally have lower paying jobs. Even though women face greater financial problems, they tend to be more nurturing to their children.
Society dictates that the father works and brings home money. Being a single parent, fathers can be found helping kids with their homework, they do the house chores, they help out in the kitchen and other previously considered "mother" roles. Financial issues are not really a problem with single dads, as they tend to have higher positions in the work force, giving them higher salaries.
Being a single parent is a great challenge; they must juggle the demands of work, homework, house cleaning, and dealing with the financial aspects of running a family. Many children benefit from the increased attention that a single parent will often bestow in the absence of a spouse. Being brought up in a single parent home often makes children more mature, more self-reliant, and more responsible at a younger age.
However, many single parents find themselves feeling isolated at one point or another. Dating and hanging out with friends must take a back seat since time must be devoted to the child or children. Single parents don't really relate to singles without children because single parents have an entirely different set of priorities and responsibilities.
Single parents have the unique opportunity to influence their child or children for good or ill, without the counterbalance of another parent. Fortunately, many children raised in a single parent home will report with admiration the extra effort made by their single parent Mom or Dad.
