Parenting
The topic of single parents and their effect on childhood development has been receiving growing attention from across the world due to various reasons. Firstly, the number of single-parent families has been increasing, unlike before. In this essence, single-parent parent families refer to families with children under the age of eighteen, headed by a widowed or divorced parent, and not remarried. Further, it also refers to a family of children under the age of eighteen years whose parent has never married. Unlike before, contemporary society has been witnessing an increase in the number of single families. Among other crucial aspects, researchers demonstrate that the high number of single-parent families across America attributes to the dynamic social changes which have seen an increase in divorce rates. Death is another common contributing factor that has led to high numbers of single-parented families. researchers also have acknowledged that the number of births outside marriages has increased over the years contributing to the alarming number of single-parent families as well (McKendry&Fine,1993))
Child growth development and the role of parents
The child development process is associated with numerous changes like social interaction and emotional regulation, speech and language, physical skills, and sensory awareness. In regards to growth, children need both their parents to fully grow psychologically, physically, and mentally. When both parents are around in most cases, children receive all the love and attention, and they get satisfied. Most children who grew up from single parenthood, when grown, usually wish that things would have been different so that they made memories with both parents. On the other hand, social interaction and emotional regulations refer to the ability of the child to interact with peers both at home and school, and the ability to master self-control. Researchers acknowledge that as children grow, they gain increasing levels of self-government and autonomy (Chester et al., 2007).
The aspect of speech and language in the process is associated with having an understanding of language, using it effectively, hence facilitating communication. The element is also associated with the ability to read, especially during school-going ages. Physical skills refer to the excellent and gross motor skills of the child. There is a compelling need for observing the changes mentioned earlier. Firstly, children are said to be growing well only if they meet the minimum threshold of the standards in the stages of development mentioned before. Secondly, researchers provide that the emotional, physical, and social development of children has an overall impact on the development of the children and the adults they will become. These demonstrate the importance of parents and the family in shaping the growth and development of the child (Mudau et al.,2018).
Effect of Single Parenting to Growth and Development of a Child
Although not the case in some of the children, coming from a single parented family can hurt the child’s academic development. In newly formed single-parent families, an example from a recent divorce or passing away of one parent it is inevitable that the child will be confusing and the thought of where the other parent could be can cause lack of concentration resulting to low grades
Poverty and its effects
Researchers demonstrate that poverty levels are significantly higher in single parenting families as opposed to both parent families [Mudau, Ncube, and Mukansi (2018)]. Poverty has a detrimental effect on the growth and development of children. Poverty levels are higher in single-parent families due to numerous reasons. Firstly, such families face inadequacies in resources. Being the only breadwinner, single parents work overly hard to provide for their families. The economy is witnessing a dynamic shift, which results in the price of goods and services expensive. Therefore, providing resources required for the effective running of the family is difficult, pushing the families to higher levels of poverty.
Besides, the majority of single-parent families’ incomes reduces because of the
employment prospects across the country. Most of the single-parent families across the country are women. Since the past, women have faced numerous employment injustices that have pushed them closer to poverty. For instance, a majority of them face discrimination at their workplaces and receive fewer salaries than their male counterparts. Top leadership positions within most organizations are preserved for men as well, denying the women from benefitting from the associated incentives. Moreover, women at the workplace face various stereotypes, demotivating them from seeking or continuing with their employment (Anton et al.,2015). Married mothers are considered ‘standard’ in society, while single mothers are not. With such developments, it is difficult for single parents to earn adequately, making their life situation worse.
Lastly, some of the available policies contribute to increasing poverty levels against
single-parent families. For example, some of the available governmental regulations,
such as expensive childcare, unpaid parental and maternal leaves at the organizations, and poor economic policies, have failed to protect single-parent families from poverty. Explained differently, some of the mentioned policies can hurt the less fortunate in society. Consequently, they lead to increased poverty in the community, and among the affected are low-income single parents (Blake,2018).
Due to poverty, some children coming from poverty-stricken families experience lower self-esteem and develop anti-social behaviors since their parents can not offer them their basic needs. With them being always quiet in school and having low self-esteem, they are more likely to be ridiculed and bullied since they go to school in torn or old clothes, or eat the same kind of food for lunch daily (Anton, Jones &Youngstrom,2015)
REFERENCES
- Mudau, T. J., Ncube, D., & Mukansi, L. E. (2018). The effects of single parenting on raising teenagers: a case study of the Hasani Dakari village Vhembe district in Limpopo province, South Africa. Gender and Behaviour, 16(2), 11728-11739
- Chester, C., Jones, D. J., Zalot, A., & Sterrett, E. (2007). The psychosocial adjustment of African American youth from single mother homes: The relative contribution of parents and peers. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 36(3), 356-366.
- Anton, M. T., Jones, D. J., & Youngstrom, E. A. (2015). Socioeconomic status, parenting, and externalizing problems in African American single-mother homes: A person-oriented approach. Journal of Family Psychology, 29(3), 405.
- Blake Berryhill, M. (2018). Single mothers’ home-based school involvement: a longitudinal analysis. Journal of Family Studies, 24(2), 187-202.