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negative effects of single parent families
negative effects of single parent families
the negative effect of a single parent family
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“There has been an unprecedented decline in childbearing in the Untied States over the last decade and a half. This change has been attributed to a number of factors, such as later marriage, fewer marriages, higher levels of female employment and education, and most remarkably, an apparent increase in voluntary childlessness” (Silka and Kiesler: 1). “The voluntary childless are those who do not have children, expect none, and have no known biological impediment to childbearing, or have been sterilized for contraceptive reasons” (Abma and Peterson 1995). These individuals have many personal, economic, and monetary reasons for a childless marriage and the majority of these women fit into one of four categories; practical, hedonists, idealistic, and emotional. Although, these couples vary in their reasons for not wanting children they have carefully examined the pros and cons of a childless family and made their choices accordingly.
Couples today are less sure about the rationale for having children. In former times (and in many non-western cultures today), children were seen as playing an important role in the continuance of family. Children may have been needed for kinship ties, to work on the family business, to look after parents in their old age, or to safeguard an inheritance. Presently, in Western society, the economy and the interests of industry have generally taken precedence over parenting and the interests of family (http:/wwwcfi.ie/feb2001/crisis.htm 3).
There are two categories of women who wish to remain childless, as identified by Baum, which fit into this particular scenario. The first group of women falls under the heading of “practical”. They have a practical reason for being childless, such as a desire to pursue their career without the interference of a family life, or the fear of passing on a genetic defect. The second group of women who share this viewpoint are “hedonists”. These women choose to remain childless through a desire to preserve their standard of living and who are unwilling to invest either time or money into raising children (Baum 1994).
Working parents with children are faced with limited daycare options, lack of quality time with their children, and less influence over their child’s developing values. These difficulties alone may be enough in order to discourage many couples from having chil...
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... in their old age (http://femrhet.cla.umn.edu/proposals/gillespir_rosemary.htm).
The prominent view of children as a status symbol and a social identity still lives on to a certain extent. Married couples are still “expected” to have children. Although, voluntary childlessness became more acceptable in the 1980’s, couples still feel the social pressure to have children (especially from family members). When deciding whether to bear children or to remain childless, couples must sort through many variables in order to make a unanimous choice on the issue. Having children brings with it large opportunity costs for working mothers. In most cases, they must choose between putting their careers on hold for at least six years or placing their child in the hands of a full time caregiver. Children also bring additional expenses, responsibility, and consumption of free time to the family environment. For some couples, this choice is simple because they may not have the desire to bring a child into this already overpopulated world or they may not have any interest in becoming a parent, but for others this choice is a difficult one.
In Wade F. Horn’s article “Promoting Marriage as a Means of Promoting Fatherhood,” Horn discusses how having a child and being married is better for children because the father is more involved in the child’s life. Kathryn Edin and Maria Kefalas’s “Unmarried with Children,” on the other hand, takes the reader through Jen’s story about getting pregnant at a young age and deciding not to marry the father of her son. While both sources make appeals to emotion, reason, and character, Edin and Kefalas’s article makes more successful appeals and thus is the stronger argument.
Around the 1950’s, the media perpetuated the idea of the picturesque family unit; children made the shift from being a necessary evil to a symbol of status. Children were no longer meant to help sustain the family, so much as meant to be trophies of the parents’ competentness. Children became an outlet for parents to mold and live through vicariously: the more perfect your child was, the better parent you were. The problem is not that people want to have children, but that many cannot afford to take care of their spawn. Whether you are a young mother utilizing the assistance of government programs such as WIC or simply writing off your children on your taxes, you are making use of government incentive to procreate. Reproduction is completely natural; however, once backed by government incentive, the motivations for having children can take an unnatural turn. Children may be a symbol of love and unity, but it has expanded beyond the family unit. Many children have become the responsibility of the Unite...
It is widely accepted that the birth of a child changes the parents’ marriage or relationship, but to what degree and to which areas of the relationship depend upon the individuals. One literature review by Cowan and Cowan, regarding the transition into parenthood, concluded that; changes that occur in parents’
Over the past three decades these ideals, although they are still recognizable, have been drastically modified across all social classes. Women have joined the paid labor force in great numbers stimulated both by economic need and a new belief in their capabilities and right to pursue opportunities. Americans in 1992 are far more likely than in earlier times to postpone marriage. Single parent families--typically consisting of a mother with no adult male and very often no other adult person present-have become common. Today at least half of all marriages end in divorce (Gembrowski 3). Most adults no longer believe that couples should stay married because divorce might harm their children. Of course, these contemporary realities have great consequential impact on mother-ch...
What is a family without a parent? A good parent has the image of a provider. Parent is the one that meets all the material needs of the household. The one who worries that nothing lacks to his/her children. Works double shifts and weekends. A good parent has not yet met the present needs, when others have been created; he/she wears out feverishly. But yet he/ she still have time to have the unique experience of seeing the children grow. Having children is a major life-course event no matter what country people live. Children alter how men and women live and how they can allocate their time. Money is required to support children, and there is also more to do in the households with children. Historically, women have done the extra work chil-dren create. Who engenders ch...
In the essay, " Childfree by Choice, " by Kelly J Welch she wrote about how celebrities opted out of having children. But, now the no kids, no thanks trend started moving to the mainstream of USA. Welch explains that people wants to be childfree for several reasons. Some reasons are they want to be financially free, have educational or career goals. Some believe the world is too dangerous for children and they feel the world's resources are limited. Some decided to be childfree because they want to spend more time with each other. Some women who chose not to become mothers because they have no maternal instincts and/or no emotional connection or feelings towards babies or children.
Divorce is the number one reason for single parenthood. (www.singleparentcenter.net). Married couples divorce for several reasons and sometimes for no reason at all. Involving a child in a divorce can cause many emotional problems for the child. Young kids do not understand why their “mommy and daddy” do not live in the same house anymore. Many kids grow up perfectly normal without a father, but a majority are not raised properly. Couples also get married for the wrong reasons. Couples believe just because they have a child together means they must get married.
2/3 say they can?t afford a child; and 1/2 say they don?t want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband or partner. A baby would interfere with their
Transition to parenthood is one of the most demanding and increasingly complex life experiences that sets a couple’s future relationship trajectory for determining the quality and stability of their relationship (Kluwer, 2010). The infant’s arrival requires the couple to adjust not only to daily baby care chores but also to the new roles of parents, often leaving the interpersonal relationship between husband and wife to a low priority. The prevailing majority of scholarship describe different levels of decline in the quality of marital relationship postpartum (Wallace & Gotlib, 1990; Helms-Erikson, 2001; Twenge, Campbell, & Foster, 2003; Mitnick, Heyman, & Smith Slep, 2009; Kluwer, 2010; Umberson, Pudrovska, & Reczek, 2010). At the same time, some scholarship explains how couples have more joy, happiness and a sense of fulfillment in life because of the baby (Petch & Halford, 2008; Nelson et al., 2013), while other findings report identical levels of marital happiness before and after birth of the baby (Amato et al., 2003). A genuine controversy lies in whether a decrease or increase of couple happiness takes place at transition to parenthood. During this transitioning process, new sets of tasks challenge the couples to act in new roles and adjust their daily routines, behavior, and relationship. When the couples experience less relationship distress in completing the transition tasks, they have a higher potential to create a positive context for raising an emotionally and physically healthy child and less chances for divorce. Because divorce has negative lasting effects on descendants for the next three generations, including lower education attainment, lower income, higher relationship distress, and higher chances...
The article that I researched regarding this area explores the reasons why women may be taking the steps to start a family without marriage, whether these pregnancies are planned or unplanned. The study was conducted using a couple of different methods including the National Survey of Family Growth and a Discrete-Time Hazard Model. “The National Survey of Family Growth is a periodic, nationally representative fertility survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics.
One specialist talked about why someone would choose to adopt by saying “often times couples choose to look into adoption for a variety of reasons.” One reason may or may not be because a couple are not able to have a baby together and want to love and care for a child. Sometimes couples already have children of their own, but still want to adopt another child because they love children so much (Luther Online). Another specialist once emphasized that most adoptions are made because couples want to either start a family or expand a family. Although some adoptions take place because a couple may want to get a child out of a particular lifestyle and give him or her better opportunities in life (Goldstein 36).
Single parenthood culture seems appealing to many married people. However, married individuals are forced to battle with elements like faithfulness and life-long commitment to one individual, which may be boring in some cases. However, single parents, especially single mothers encounter serious challenges related to parenting. Single parenting is a succession of constant mental torture because of ineptness, self-scrutiny, and remorse. At some point, single parents will often encounter serious psychological problems some graduating to stress and eventual depression. Again, there are far-reaching problems that force single mothers to a set of economic or social hardships. Social hardships are evident as address in this research.
“ The Disadvantages of Single Parenting”. All- About- Motherhood. n.p. n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2011.
The family is the main agent of socialisation and an institution. (Giddens, 2013:339). As children, we rely on our family to fulfil basic needs. We all need guidance, and more importantly we also require nurturing to become healthy adults. The definition of family varies across cultures. However, the family is sensitive to change and, therefore, not static. The structure of the family has changed, and culture and society are now more accepting of the fact that people now choose to cohabit, rather than marry. (Haralambos & Holborn 2009:3). In 2013, there were nearly 1.9 million lone parent households with dependent children in the United Kingdom; a figure which has steadily increased over the years (Office of National Statistics 2013). The rise in lone parents has brought about greater acceptance of pregnancies that do not have to involve marriage although acceptance is not the concern. A study suggests that….
Some parents believe that while they had a partner who equally contributed in the making of a life that was brought into the world, they should be held accountable and be responsible for the child as well. Whether or not the parents of the child are married, it is possible for both parents to remain active participants in the child’s life and still share the responsibility of raising them. When you are a single, adult person, you have one main responsibility, and that is the responsibility to care for yourself. That’s it, just you! However, when you and your partner or significant other agrees to have children, you must understand that the duty of raising healthy, responsible individuals starts with understanding the role as parents. Of course you don’t have to be a perfect parent to raise healthy, highly intelligent children. You are, however, absolutely crucial in your child’s life simply because you are your child’s parent. We only have one chance with our children, so while they are young, we must make the most of it. This is the window of opportunity to build a...