Parenting Being a Single Parent

¶ … Parenting Being a single parent requires immense patience, self-sacrifice, and financial output, and the joy of childrearing can seem obscured by stress and strain. Single parenting can therefore cause a number of problems for both parent and child. The single parent may suffer from psychological stress and physical strain from having to carry out all the duties of childrearing without a partner. Moreover, single parenting is expensive on one person's salary and demands working long hours.

Unable to be with the child for long hours during the day, the parent misses out on many of the child's school and social activities and the child may therefore grow up deprived of an intimate relationship with the parent. Single parenting can cause long-term psychological, social, and financial damage for both parent and child. Single parenting can cause both parent and child psychological stress and strain. Having to work long hours, occasionally at more than one job, means the parent has little time to relax.

Moreover, when children are young they require enormous amounts of time and energy that can tax the parent's system. A child with a single parent can sometimes feel neglected or lonely. The child could potentially develop bad habits in the absence of parental attention. In addition to the psychological stressors, single parenting can also cause social pressures. The single parent lacks enough time or energy to meet potential new partners or to develop existing friendships.

Similarly, the child may suffer socially by falling in with the wrong crowd at school to make up for the lack of attention experienced at home. Both parent and child might find themselves feeling socially isolated because of the unique pressures of single parenting. Financially, single parenting can be a burden. The costs of childrearing are often too difficult for two parents, let alone for one. When the single parent is forced to work long hours to be able to afford basic living expenses, both child and parent suffer.