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132). When women reported that their desire for greater social support was satisfied, the outcomes reported for their children improved dramatically.
The negative associations with single parenting thus have more to do with the circumstances that can give birth to single parenting, or are attached to single parenting because of the way our society is structured. In society, we have come to regard the nuclear family as the norm and single parents do not always have the multigenerational support that could give their children positive role models of both genders that they may have in previous eras. Single parents are more likely to be female, and females are traditionally underpaid for their labor. Additionally companies are not always willing to make accommodations for male or female single parent's need for flexible schedules. But the problem is not with single parenting; rather the problem is with how our society views parenthood in general, and women in the workforce. Rather than celebrating parenthood with flexible family leave, and rather than trying to try to establish parity between male and female employees, the state of single motherhood (and fatherhood) is blamed instead.
There are some additional challenges that single parents undeniably face, that are not faced by parents of children in two-parent homes. Single parents must work harder to put food on the table, which may mean that they have less time to sit and have dinner with their children or supervise their child's schoolwork and extracurricular activities. If they are dating, they must look for partners who are positive role models for their children. If parenting a child of the opposite sex, they must make sure that the child has mentors in his or her life that are good influences upon the development of the child. Their children will often grow up in a household where having a 'normal' relationship is not part of the day-to-day rhythms of family life, which may make forming relationships for the child more difficult later on. Children must also be carefully introduced to boyfriends or girlfriends....
Children become attached to such surrogate parental figures, particularly if the other parent is absent from their lives, and if "he no longer comes around; they may feel abandoned or feel that they did something to cause the person to go away" (Walker 2002). Children of single parents thus must take on an adult understanding of relationships, long before the rest of our culture urges them to do so.
Yet despite all of these challenges, many single parents compensate well, again if they are economically and socially 'gifted' with resources that are not the option for some young, poor, female single parents. But poverty is a problem for the parents of young children, regardless of whether both parents are married or not. So is the difficulty in finding gainful and financially rewarding employment for mothers. Furthermore, on an anecdotal level, many children grow up in single-parent households with parents that show them the importance of strength and self-reliance. These children must learn to manage their own time, and to take on real household responsibilities in a way that fosters a strong work ethic, early on. Thus, although single parenting is not an unmitigated blessing, it need not be viewed as a clear social ill, regardless of context.
Works Cited
Burden, Dianne S. "Single Parents and the Work Setting: The Impact of Multiple Job and Homelife Responsibilities." Family Relations. Vol. 35. No. 1. The Single Parent Family. Jan., 1986. pp. 37-43
Hanson, Shirley M. "Single Parents and the Work Setting: The Impact of Multiple Job and Homelife Responsibilities." Family Relations. Vol. 35. No. 1. The Single Parent Family. Jan., 1986. pp. 125-132.
DeLeire, Thomas & Ariel Kalil. "Good things come in 3's: Single-parent multigenerational family structure and adolescent adjustment." Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies. Oct 2001. 4 Apr 2008. http://www.spc.uchicago.edu/prc/pdfs/deleir02.pdf
Walker, Victoria. Pagewise. 2002. 4 Apr 2008. http://www.essortment.com/all/singleparentfa_rcsc.htm
Works Cited
Burden, Dianne S. "Single Parents and the Work Setting: The Impact of Multiple Job and Homelife Responsibilities." Family Relations. Vol. 35. No. 1. The Single Parent Family. Jan., 1986. pp. 37-43
Hanson, Shirley M. "Single Parents and the Work Setting: The Impact of Multiple Job and Homelife Responsibilities." Family Relations. Vol. 35. No. 1. The Single Parent Family. Jan., 1986. pp. 125-132.
DeLeire, Thomas & Ariel Kalil. "Good things come in 3's: Single-parent multigenerational family structure and adolescent adjustment." Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies. Oct 2001. 4 Apr 2008. http://www.spc.uchicago.edu/prc/pdfs/deleir02.pdf
Walker, Victoria. Pagewise. 2002. 4 Apr 2008. http://www.essortment.com/all/singleparentfa_rcsc.htm
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