Is Your Family Headed by a Single Parent?

Unmarried-parent families

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Definition

Single-parent families are families with children under age eighteen headed past a parent who is widowed or divorced and not remarried, or by a parent who has never married.

Description

One out of every two children in the United States volition live in a single-parent family at some time before they reach age 18. Co-ordinate the United States Demography Bureau, in 2002 about 20 million children lived in a household with only their mother or their begetter. This is more one-4th of all children in the Us.

Since 1950, the number of one-parent families has increased substantially. In 1970, about 11 percentage of children lived in single-parent families. During the 1970s, divorce became much more than common, and the number of families headed by i parent increased rapidly. The number peaked in the 1980s and so declined slightly in the 1990s. Past 1996, 31 percent of children lived in single-parent families. In 2002, the number was 28 pct. Many other children have lived in single-parent families for a time before their biological parent remarried, when they moved into a two-parent family with i biological parent and one step parent.

The reasons for unmarried-parent families accept also changed. In the mid-twentieth century, virtually unmarried-parent families came most because of the expiry of a spouse. In the 1970s and 1980s, most unmarried-parent families were the upshot of divorce. In the early on 2000s, more and more single parents have never married. Many of these single parents live with an adult partner, sometimes even the single male parent of their child. These families are counted by the Census Bureau as single-parent families, although two adults are present. Still other families are counted as unmarried-parent families if the parents are married, but ane is away for an extended period, for example, on military deployment.

The most common type of single-parent family unit is one that consists of a female parent and her biological children. In 2002, 16.5 1000000 or 23 per centum of all children were living with their unmarried mother. This group included 48 percentage of all African-American children, 16 per centum of all non-Hispanic white children, 13 percent of Asian/Pacific Islander children, and 25 percent of children of Hispanic origin. However, these numbers do not give a true movie of household organization, because 11 percent of all children were actually living in homes where their mother was sharing a home with an adult to whom she was not married. This group includes xiv percentage of white children, 6 percentage of African-American children, eleven percent of Asian/Pacific Islander, and 12 percent of Hispanic children.

Households headed by a single begetter increased substantially after the early 1980s, reflecting social club'south changing attitudes almost the function of fathers in kid rearing. In 1970, only one percent of children lived with a unmarried male parent. In 2002, nigh 5 percent of children under age 18 lived with their single fathers. Single fathers, however, are much more likely to be divorced than never married and much more than likely than single mothers to exist sharing a home with an adult to whom they are not married. For example, 33 percent of Caucasian children lived with fathers who were unmarried merely cohabiting with another adult. The rate was 29 pct for African-American children, 30 percent for Asian/Pacific Islanders, and 46 percent for children of Hispanic origin. It is clear that not all single-parent families are the same and that within different indigenous and racial groups, the number and type of single-parent families varies considerably.

Adoption by single individuals has also soared. In 1970 but 0.5 to 4 percent of adoptive parents were single. In the 1980s this rate increased from viii to 34 percentage. According the United States Department of Wellness and

Single parent and her children spending fourth dimension together.

(© Rick Gomez/Corbis.)

Human being Services, 33 percent of children adopted from foster care are adopted by single parents.

Mutual problems

Single-parent families face up special challenges. One of these is economic. In 2002, twice as many single-parent families earned less than $30,000 per year compared to families with ii parents present. At the reverse terminate of the spectrum, 39 percent of two-parent families earned more than $75,000 compared to 6 percent of single-mother families and 11 percentage of single-father families. Single-parent families are challenged in other ways. Children living with single fathers were the least likely of all children to have wellness insurance coverage.

Social scientists have found that children growing up in single-parent families are disadvantaged in other ways when compared to a two-biological-parent families. Many of these issues are directly related to the poor economical status of single-parent families, not just to parenting style. These children are at risk for the following:

• lower levels of educational achievement
• twice equally probable to drop out of school
• more than likely to become teen parents
• more conflict with their parent(southward)
• less supervised past adults
• more than likely to become truants
• more frequently abuse drugs and booze
• more high-risk sexual behavior
• more likely to join a gang
• twice as probable to go to jail
• four times every bit likely to demand assistance for emotional and behavioral problems
• more likely to participate in violent offense
• more likely to commit suicide
• twice as likely to get divorced in adulthood

Studies have too found that children who live in a two-parent family unit where 1 parent is abusive or has a high level of hating beliefs do not practice also as children whose parents divorce if the kid and so lives in a unmarried-parent family with the nonabusive parent.

Information technology is important to remember that every single-parent family is different. Children who are living with a widowed mother volition have a domicile life that is different from children with divorced parents or those whose parents were never married. Children of divorced parents will accept a wide range of relationships with their parents and parents' partners depending on custody arrangements and the delivery of the non-custodial parent to maintaining a relationship with the child. Despite the fact that children from unmarried-parent families often face a tougher time economically and emotionally than children from two-biological-parent families, children from single-parent families tin can grow up doing well in school and maintaining healthy behaviors and relationships.

Parental concerns

Being a single parent can exist hard and lonely. There is often no other adult with whom to share decision-making, subject field , and financial responsibilities. The full burden of finding responsible childcare, earning a living, and parenting falls on one private. All the same, the lack of a second parent often has a less negative touch on on children than family instability, lack of structure, and inconsistent enforcement of parental standards. Single parents may desire to follow these steps in order to create positive experiences for their children:

• Find stable, safety kid intendance.
• Establish a home routine and stick to information technology.
• Utilize rules and discipline clearly and consistently.
• Let the child to be a child and not inquire him or her to solve adult issues.
• Get to know the important people (teachers, coaches, friends) in the child'due south life.
• Answer questions about the other parent calmly and honestly.
• Avoid beliefs that causes the child to feel pressed to choose betwixt divorced parents.
• Explain financial limitations honestly.

When to get assistance

If parents feel their child is out of command and is not responding to their parenting, they need to get help from the kid'due south school, social service agencies, and mental wellness professionals. If they feel their own life is spiraling downwardly and falling apart, they tin can seek help from many organizations that provide social, emotional, financial, and legal support for unmarried-parent families.

Resources

BOOKS

Karst, Patricia. The Single Female parent'southward Survival Guide. Freedom, CA: Crossing Printing, 2000.

PERIODICALS

Fields, Jason. "Children's Living Arrangements and Characteristics: March 2002." Current Population Reports. United States Section of Commerce Economic science and Statistics Administration, June, 2003.

Jaffee, Sara R., et al. "Life with (or without) Father: The Benefits of Living with Ii Biological Parents Depend on the Father's Antisocial Behavior." Child Development 74 (January-February 2003): 109–27.

ORGANIZATIONS

Parents without Partners. 1650 South Dixie Highway, Suite 510, Boca Raton, Florida 33431 Web site: http://world wide web.parentswithoutpartners.org.

Single and Custodial Fathers Network Inc. Web site: http://scfn.org .

Spider web SITES

Single Parent Central. Bachelor online at http://www.singleparentcentral.com (accessed November 14, 2004.).

Tish Davidson, A.Thou.

andersontiever.blogspot.com

Source: http://www.healthofchildren.com/S/Single-Parent-Families.html

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