Causes of Single Parenting

SINGLE PARENTING 4

Causesof Single Parenting

Causesof Single Parenting

Accordingto Herenginton (2014), “a single parent is a sole provider orsomeone who shoulders all the responsibilities of a family.” Theperson takes care of the household necessities like food shelter andclothing. In most scenarios, a single parent is usually a motherhowever, it necessarily does not sideline men as single parents.Single fathers in white families are twice as common as compared toAfrican-American households. Presently, men have also become singleparents although the percentage is minimal. Death has been seen asthe leading cause of single parenthood over the years however, thereare diverse reasons such as divorce and unplanned pregnancies, withteen single parents accounting for thirteen percent. Herenginton(2014), a principal researcher, suggests that single parenting anddivorce have been increasing in the recent times. In the currentglobal age, single parenting has increased with surrogacy, artificialinsemination, unwed mothers, and adoption. The number of widowedparents has been on the decline recently, which is in contrast to thepast trends due to other causes that lead to single parenthood.Single parenthood has become a norm in the United States with peoplemaking deliberate choices to raise their families as individuals. Ihave been raised in a single parent family after my parents filed fora divorce hence, I was brought up my mother alone. Consequently, Ihave faced many challenges such as lack of tuition fees and sometimesbasic needs. A vast majority of American women have adopted the trendof raising children alone, not because of natural causes but out ofpreference. Children raised from single parent families face a lot ofsocial stigma such as discrimination among their peers. Raising achild singlehandedly can be a stressful task because there areseveral tasks to be done and major decisions to me made.

Thereare two major types of single parenthood: widowed and divorcedparents. Divorce has been on the rise due to different reasons suchas infidelity and lack of love in marriages. Developed countries arefacing high rates of divorce with the United States and Canada takingthe lead. Most of the divorced couples involve not only the man andwoman but also the children. Filing for a divorce means that thechildren will be raised by one parent or the couple could co-parent.Nonetheless, most mothers opt to file for full custody. In themid-1990s, single parenting had risen, thereby yielding 1.7 millionsingle mothers and 1.3 million single fathers (Herenginton, 2014).Notably, most of the first time marriages have a high chance ofending up in divorce, with a recurrence of the same, the second timeround resulting in single parenthood. In the nineteenth century,one-fourth of the children born experienced death of a parent.Maternal mortality has boosted the high rate of single parents manywomen lose their lives through childbirth, thereby leaving childrenin their fathers’ care. Diseases and wars have also contributed tochildren being raised by single mothers or parents. Increased crimeand terrorist activities have also led to untimely deaths of parents,and thus, increasing single parenting. As a result, single parenthoodseems to be on the rise even today but facilitated by other factorsaside from divorce and death of the couples.

Reference

Hetherington,E. M. (Ed.). (2014). Copingwith divorce, single parenting, and remarriage: A risk

andresiliency perspective.Hove: Psychology Press.