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January 2010 Newletter #2 |
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Single family households are no longer a rare occurrence, if anything it’s become so popular it’s almost a shock to hear of a traditional two parent household. Today, single-parent households are no longer viewed as nontraditional. According to statistics, 30% of American families are headed by only one parent, numbering over 12 million in 2000. In fact, the percentage of children who live with two parents has been declining among all racial and ethnic groups throughout the years at an almost unbelievable and astonishing rate.
It has been said that the divorce rate is up to 50%, which could be based on different factors. Many feel that people don’t take marriage as seriously as couples did in our previous generation. In addition, with media being more and more influential to the younger generations, seeing the short lived marriages don’t help either.
According to statistics, 22 million children go home to one parent, and 83% of those parents are mothers. Single mothers are more popular than single fathers, however the amount of single fathers has grown by 60% in the past 10 years. Again, according to statistics, half of all children involved in one parent household headed by the mother, do not see their father on a regular basis two years following the parents breakup, greatly affecting their relationship with their father.
Of the single family households, the break down is of the following. Of the children living in single family households, 38% lived with a divorced parent, 35% with a never-married parent, 19% with a separated parent, 4% with a widowed parent, and the other 4% live with one parent due to business and traveling associated with traveling.
Although the idea of divorce is typically decided by the parents for the overall betterment of themselves and sometimes for the family as well, regardless it does take a toll on the children as well. Having a strong solid family structure is becoming more and more difficult to find, and for children whether a victim of divorce, or never having any type of first hand experience, when they are ready to start their own relationships, their image of what should and shouldn’t be may be jaded . Statistically in the US, family structure does contribute to certain characteristics to a child’s well being. The number of children 15-17 in school and in good health is much lower in this group, and the number of children becoming pregnant at this age is also higher. Also signs that children who have gone through a divorce may have problems with depression, emotional stress and difficulties.
These results aren’t seen in all children who are a product of single parents, however careful research shows a large enough majority of children who live in a single parent household do experience these types of challenges. Many single family households also tend to struggle financially. Approximately seventy percent of single-parent mothers live in poverty, earning less than $13,000 annually. Again, not all single mothers have challenges like this, but a large enough of a majority do. Earning so little money, may take up a lot of time. Many single mothers work more than one job to make ends meet, leaving their children unsupervised for long periods of time, possibly enabling their children to get into trouble, creating even more problems.
Again, all of these challenges don’t apply to all single family households, or children living with only one parent, but the challenges are real and the affects whether small or large, are usually permanent. It is important as parents to know how living in a single family can affect your children, and although the ultimate decision is yours, keep the children in mind as well. Serious decisions like who you are involved with because it is possible that he or she could ultimately be the mother or father of your child. Also if for whatever reason the relationship between you and your partner fails, for most situations, eliminating abuse and such of course, to have your child maintain a relationship with their mother or father is important and could have a larger affect on them than you may think.
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