Affects on children

One of the most striking changes in family structure over the last twenty years has been
the increase in single-parent families this was said by Jacqueline Kirby from Ohio State
University. Single parenting houses are becoming more and more frequent. Teens are having
children young and if they are not married, they are considered a single parent according to the
state. Since 1970 children 18 years or older with single parents had totaled to about 3.8 million
and by 1990 that 3.9 million doubled to 9.7 million. Statistics keep rising and there is no way to
stop life. When I say stop life I mean deaths, teen pregnancy, divorce and several other things
that determine these statistics. Kids are being affected negatively by living in single parent
homes.
In the U.S. today 30% of families are single parented. Single parenting women make
approximately $32,597 a year. Single parenting men make 48,084 a year generally not very
much. Married parents make around 71,830 a year, which kids with married parents to dont
suffer from anything. This point out that married couples can support a child better than a single
parent also that children or teens are affected by being parented by a single parent. Issues come
into play like things such as the child leads a less healthy life, drops out, has trouble keeping jobs
later on in life, social behavior, sex-role identification. The child could be experiencing being left
out of things because the extra money cannot be provided for extra activities.
Being a single parent leaves one parent in charge of providing things like child care.
Single parents struggle with making enough money so work different shifts or hours to make
enough money, which makes parent then lack time with their child. The child could also miss out
on meals because there is no grocery money. In 2009 78% of single parent families had been

parented by a one parent most likely a women. Generally women get paid less which again puts
the child at risk of leading a different life style. A study was done in Sweden to compare the
health of single parented children to married parented children. The single parented children had
twice the risk of suicide attempts, psychiatric illness and alcohol abuse than the married parented
children. Divorce was the most common reason for struggle with the conflict between their
parents if a divorce has taken place and family instability being moved from moms and dads
house every other day or week. Children may be asked to take sides on which parent they want
to live with or who they agree or disagree with which could be straining on the child.
I interviewed a few of my friends asking them if they have been affected by being raised
by a single parent. One of them said emotionally it does not affect them at all but financially it
affects them a lot because they said if his parents were still together, he would have nicer things
like a better looking house, nicer clothes, and more things. Another friend said that it doesnt
really affect her. She sees her father every 5 months and she is ok with that. With these findings I
have realized all the people I have asked are older. Does it affect younger children worse? Yes,
because they have not grown up like this either their parents have recently gotten a divorce or
they have lost their parents due to death and younger children cant handle tough things as well
in comparison to an older child.
Some single parented children dont always suffer depending on the circumstance.
Parents with good paying jobs and good education have adequate resources and can provide the
needs for their children. President Obama was raised in a single parented home and still reached
his goals and became president. Not all children are affected by being raised by one parent.
Depending on the circumstance of the child they are affected and I still believe that most single
parented children are being affected negatively by living in single parent homes.

References
Kirby, J. Single-Parent Families in Poverty. Retrieved April 10, 2014
http://www3.uakron.edu/schulze/401/readings/singleparfam.htm
Single Parent. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_parent

Poverty and the American Family. Retrieved April 17, 2014.

http://depts.washington.edu/wcpc/Family
Does Single Parenting Affect Children. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
http://lifestyle.howstuffworks.com/family/parenting/single-parents/single-parenting-affectchildren.htm