Single parent 226109 224540689 2008-07-09T09:15:38Z Everyme 7302732 /* Single parents in history, literature, television, films, etc. */ ren section to *Single parents in history and fiction*, format examples and remove extraneous info A '''single parent''' (also '''lone parent''' and '''sole parent''') is a [[parent]] who cares for one or more children without the assistance of another parent in the home. The legal definition of "single parenthood" may vary according to the local laws of different nations or regions. Single parenthood may occur for a variety of reasons. It could be opted for by the parent (as in [[divorce]], [[adoption]], [[artificial insemination]], [[surrogate motherhood]], or extramarital pregnancy), or be the result of an unforeseeable occurrence (such as death or abandonment by one parent). The living and parenting arrangements of single parents are diverse. A number live in households with family or other adults. When parents separate, one party usually parents for the majority of the time but most continue to share parenting to some extent with the other parent<ref>Callister, Paul and Burks, Stuart (2006) [http://www.nzfamilies.org.nz/files/blueskies-callister.pdf "Two Parents, Two Households: New Zealand data collection, language and complex parenting"] Family Commission (accessed February, 18 2008)</ref>. Single parenthood is a stage of life rather than a lifelong family form<ref name="millar"/>. Many re-partner and form a [[stepfamily]]. ==Single parent demographics== Most single parents are female. In the past few years there are more men heading single parent families. <ref>[http://aspe.dhhs.gov/hsp/connections-charts04/ch1.htm Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, US Department of Health and Human Services] - Indicators of Child, Family, and Community Connections: Family Structure</ref> In [[2003]], 14% of all [[Australia]]n households were single-parent families. Since [[2001]], 31% of babies born in Australia were born to unmarried mothers.<ref name=PB>[http://www.pobronson.com/factbook/pages/43.html "Single Parents"] PoBronson.com (accessed October 9, 2006)</ref> (Many of these mothers may not be single parents, as they may simply live with their supportive partners without getting formally married.) In the [[United Kingdom]], there are 1.9 million single parents as of 2005, with 3.1 million children.<ref name=OPF2>As of 2004. [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/nugget.asp?ID=1163 Office for National Statistics] - Focus on Families</ref> About 1 out of 4 families with dependent children are single-parent families. According to a survey done by the United Kingdom, 9% of single parents in the UK are fathers,<ref name=OPF4>As of 2004. [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=14049 Labour Force Survey] - Focus on Families; see table 1.2</ref> and 86% of single parents are white.<ref name=OPF7>"One Parent Families Today: The Facts" (2005), One Parent Families, London</ref><ref name=OPF1>Labour Market Review (2006), Office for National Statistics</ref><ref name=OPF3>[http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_compendia/GHS05/ households2005-final.xls2005 Office for National Statistics] - General Household Survey; see table 3.6</ref> UK poverty figures show that 47% of single parent families are below the Government-defined poverty line (after housing costs).<ref>2005/06 [http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/hbai/hbai2006/contents.asp Department for Work and Pensions]</ref> ==Effects of single parenting== {{See also|Implications of divorce}} Single parent families are at a higher risk of poverty than couple families, and on average single mothers have poorer health than couple mothers <ref name="millar">Millar, Jane and Ridge, Tess (2001)[http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/153summ.asp "Families, Poverty, Work and Care: A review of literature on lone parents and low income couple families"] (DWP Research Report No.153)</ref>. Single parenting is strongly associated with an increased risk of a number of negative social, behavioral and emotional outcomes for children. However while the association is strong, on balance the effect size and the actual numbers effected is modest. Most children from single parent families do well. Many factors influence how children develop in single-parent families: the parent's age, education level, and occupation; the family's income; and the family's support network of friends and extended family members (including the non-resident parent, if available). Disadvantages in these factors that often accompany single parenting appear to cause most of this association rather than single parenting itself <ref>Rickard, Maurice [http://www.aph.gov.au/LIBRARY/Pubs/RN/2001-02/02rn41.htm "Children of Lesbian and Single Women Parents"] Research Note no. 41 2001-02, Social Policy Group, Parliament of Australia (accessed February, 18 2008)</ref> <ref name="mackay">Mackay, Ross (2005) [http://www.msd.govt.nz/documents/publications/msd/journal/issue24/24-pages111-133.pdf "The impact of family structure and family change on child outcomes: a personal reading of the research literature"]Social Policy Journal of New Zealand (accessed February, 18 2008)</ref>. Shocking headlines do get published; for example a 2003 [[Sweden|Swedish]] study, stated that those living with a single parent were about three times more likely to either kill themselves or end up in the hospital after an attempted suicide by the age of 26 than children living with two parents, however this only happened to 2.2 percent of girls and 1 percent of boys <ref>''The Lancet'', January 25, paraphrased by [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/04/health/main539283.shtml CBS News' Emma Ross], "Single-Parent Kids More At Risk"</ref>. While such a finding is concerning, clearly the vast majority of the children of single parents do not kill themselves. A variety of viewpoints do exist, with different readings of the research possible. The Institute for the Study of Civil Society reports that children of single parents, after controlling for other variables like family income, are more likely to have problems <ref>[http://www.civitas.org.uk/pubs/experiments.php Experiments in Living: The Fatherless Family<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>. There are impacts of sole parenting on children, however the weight of the evidence does not appear to support a view that sole parents are a major cause of societal ills and are doing irreparable damage to their children <ref name="mackay" />. ===Maturity=== Children of single parents are very likely to share more household responsibilities, including looking after themselves. Single parents often discuss things with their children (usually financial or family decisions) which, in other families, are usually discussed only between parents. This can make the children from these families particularly independent, mature, resourceful, and responsible as compared to their peers. <ref>[http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetails.aspx?p=114&np=99&id=1706 CYH.com] - "Single Parenting," involving them in family issues</ref> === Assistance and help === A common way for single parents to seek and receive help is over the Internet by conversing with other single parents in similar situations. There are various websites available, offering discussion forums and helpful advice to those parents who find themselves alone. Other websites help by offering single parents to support each other while also providing highly useful links to various solicitors, counselors and financial advisers in any area of the UK.[http://www.onlydads.org Only Dads] and [http://www.onlymums.org Only Mums] are examples of such websites. Many western countries have national or local organizations that offer support specifically for single parents and/or lobby the government on their behalf {{Fact|date=March 2008}}. ==By insemination== A woman may voluntarily become a single parent by [[artificial insemination]]. In many countries, e.g. [[Sweden]] this is prohibited. Swedes, however, may go to [[Denmark]], where it is legal to have an insemination. ==Single parents in history and fiction== There have been several famous single parents who were also [[actor]]s, [[vocalists]], and [[politician]]s. [[Murphy Brown]], one famous fictional character in the sitcom of the same name, was a career woman working in a TV news firm. She became pregnant and had a baby in the comedy series' fourth season. The character's decisions became a nation-wide interest when she was referred to by several US [[family values]]-oriented politicians, including then-vice president, [[Dan Quayle]], who openly criticized the show during a 1992 speech in San Francisco. <ref>McQueen, Michael. Quayle's Criticisms Of `Murphy Brown' Send Sparks Flying --- Pregnancy on Sitcom Proves Fertile Ground for Debate Over Values and Abortion. Wall Street Journal. May 21, 1992.</ref> Other examples include: *Porter Ricks in ''[[Flipper (1964 TV series)|Flipper]]'' *Ellen Miller in ''[[Lassie (TV series)|Lassie]]'' *[[Sheriff Andy Taylor|Andy Taylor]] in ''[[The Andy Griffith Show]]'' *Hester Prynne in ''[[The Scarlet Letter]]'' *[[Danny Tanner]] in ''[[Full House]]'' *Alexia in ''[[The Ultimate Gift]]'' *Lorelei Gilmore in ''[[Gilmore Girls]]'' ===Public policy debate=== Single parents have often been the focus of public policy debate. The debate has included both practical considerations around the role of government in their support, and moral ones in response to the decline of the traditional family. The moral debate tends to divide between liberal and conservative positions with liberals welcoming or accepting the changes in family structures, while conservatives decry the declines in marriage and the rises in divorce and cohabitation. The policy debate also tends to split along similar lines with fiscal conservatives emphasizing a minimal role for government and an employment focus, while liberals tend to support more government involvement in an attempt to minimize poverty. ==See also== *[[Divorce]] *[[Marriage]] *[[Marriage gap]] *[[Only child]] *[[Single (relationship)]] *[[Morris Finer#Finer Report on One Parent Families|Morris Finer Report on One Parent Families]] *[[Teenage pregnancy]] ==References== <references/> <!--Instead these should be referenced in their respective statements: *Bankston, Carl L. and Caldas, Stephen J., Family Structure, Schoolmates, and Racial Inequalities in School Achievement, Journal of Marriage and the Family 60:3 (1998), 715-723. *Dependent Children: 1 in 4 in lone-parent families," National Statistics Online, National Statistics, United Kingdom (July 7, 2005) . Accessed at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=1163 on July 17, 2006. *Geographic Distribution: London has most lone-parent families," National Statistics Online, National Statistics, United Kingdom (July 7, 2005). Accessed at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=1166 on July 17, 2006. *Hilton, J., Desrochers, S.,Devall, E. Comparison of Role Demands, Relationships, and Child Functioning is Single-Mother, Single-Father, and Intact Families. Journal of Divorce and Remarriage ,35(?) 29-56. *Mulkey, L.; Crain, R; Harrington, A.M. One-Parent Households and Achievement: Economic and Behavioral Explanations of a Small Effect. Sociology of Education, 1992, 65, 1, Jan, 48-65 *Pong, Suet-ling The School Compositional Effect of Single Parenthood on 10th Grade Achievement, Sociology of Education 71:1 (1998), 23-42. *Quinlan, Robert J. Father absence, parental care, and female reproductive development. Evolution and Human Behavior, Volume 24, Issue 6, November 2003, Pages 376-390 *Richards, Leslie N.; Schmiege, Cynthia J. Family Relations, Vol. 42, No. 3, Family Diversity. (Jul., 1993), pp. 277-285. *Risman, Barbara J., and Park, Kyung. (1988). Just The Two of Us: Parent-Child Relationships in Single-Parent Homes. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 1988, 50, 4, Nov, 1049. *Sacks, G. (September 4, 2005) “Boys without fathers is not a logical new idea.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock, Arkansas) *States News Service. (2005 July 20). “America’s Children: Family Structure and Children’s Well-Being --> ==External links== *[http://www.onlydads.org/ Support organisation for single dads] *[http://www.onlymums.org/ Support organisation for single mums] *[http://www.oneparentfamilies.org.uk One Parent Families|Gingerbread - the UK's leading national charity working to help lone parents] *[http://www.oneparentfamilies.org.uk/facts oneparentfamilies.org.uk/facts - Statistics about lone parents in the UK from One Parent Families|Gingerbread] *[http://www.singleparentsocial.com/i/social- Share your experiences as a Single Parent] *[http://www.singleparents.org.uk Single Parents Action Network - SPAN is a uniquely diverse organisation empowering one parent families throughout the UK.] *[http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/thewomenslibrary/whats-on/exhibitions/sinners-scroungers-saints.cfm Sinners, Scroungers, Saints: Lone Mothers, Past and Present - an exhibition at The Women's Library, London featuring the archives of the One Parent Families charity] *[http://www.contemporaryfamilies.org/subtemplate.php?t=briefingPapers&ext=marriagepovertypublicpoli Marriage, Poverty, and Public Policy, A Discussion Paper from the Council on Contemporary Families] *[http://www.aap.org/publiced/BR_SingleParenting.htm Parenting Corner Q+A: Single Parenting] *[http://www.singleparents.co.nz/ New Zealand Single Parents - support for single mums and dads in New Zealand] *[http://www.mssinglemama.com/ Ms. Single Mama - Single mother dating, parenting and living advice.] *[http://www.singlemothersbychoice.com Single Mothers By Choice] [[Category:Parenting]] [[Category:Living arrangements]] [[ar:الوالد الوحيد]] [[de:Alleinerziehende]] [[es:Madre soltera]] [[fr:monoparentalité]] [[it:Famiglia monogenitoriale]] [[he:משפחה חד-הורית]] [[sr:Самохрани родитељ]] [[fi:Yksinhuoltaja]] [[zh:單親家庭]]