Single Parenting/Parenthood

Single Parenthood refers to a situation in which a spouse in a relationship remains the sole caregiver or guardian of the family’s children following the loss of a partner in divorce, separation among others.

Reasons for/causes of single Parenthood.

• One of the major reasons of being a single parent is divorce due to irreconcilable differences. This leaves the children to one parent.
• Another major cause of single Parenthood is teenage or unintended pregnancy .Every year young girls get pregnant which e eventually leads to forceful marriages and these marriages usually don’t stay for long thus leading to separation which consequently result in single Parenthood.
• Death of a spouse due to any illness or other causes plus maternal mortality also lead to single parenting.
• Deliberate negligence of family duty by either a non stay at home partner, leaving the stay at home parent to shoulder all children’s responsibilities.
• Promiscuous relationships breed children who are often left or abandoned by males to their mothers.
• Poverty or limited resources to sustain a full home. This makes many men abandon the children leaving them to the mothers.
• Domestic violence also facilitates single parenting. When cases of violence in a home manifest, the abused partner may give up on marriage which may leave the children with one parent.
• Some women are raped and they conceive without consent which makes them abandon the children to their rapists or the men themselves refuse to take care of such children.
• Some single parents adopt children and choose to raise them single handedly.
• Some habits like alcoholism lead to separation of partners, which leads to single Parenthood.
• Some people become single parents out of choice. This is common with women who feel that they don’t want marriage and just give birth to children who they take care of without the father’s input.
• Education and pride among women. Some educated women become so proud and disrespectful to their husbands especially with financial success. They therefore become hard to manage in marriage thus leading to separation which results in single parenting.
• Influence of family members in marriage. Some family members stress partners in marriage especially if they don’t like one of the partners.

They influence the marriage negatively which leads to separation and single Parenthood.

Effects Of Single Parenthood

• Children of a single parent may spend quite stressful life compared to those children that live with two parents that is both mother and father.
• Decline in a child’s academic performance. Children who are nurtured by single parents are usually inattentive or pay less attention in schools.This is mostly because of depression.
• Single parenting fuels economic hardships as one parent plays the role of two parents.
• It limits social interaction for both children and parents. This comes with feelings of self blame for the separation of the partners.
• Single parenting affects children’s emotional and behavioral development. Quality of the time is usually not provided by single parents to their children such as listening to children’s concerns, understanding their emotional and psychological needs and helping them in their assignments, asking them about their studies etc
• Negative perception for self and sometimes leads to suicidal ideation due to depression, stress and loneliness. This mostly affects the single parent.
• Children may engage in unconstructive or unacceptable behaviors such as alcohol use , smoking, substance abuse e t c  due to lack of guidance from parents, since the one raising them is busy, fending for their welfare.
•  The parents’ confidence and self-esteem in society is affected. Single parents may consider themselves failures because of failing to maintain their relationships with spouses.
• Children raised by single parents may fear or hate marriage because of the stress they encounter as an effect of their parents’ separation.
• Children of single parents who marry may behave like their parents and also fail to maintain their marriages which eventually leads to separation.

Questions

Suggest solutions to reduce the problem of single parenthood in your country.