Causes & Effects of Single Parents
Single parents face several different challenges as a result of being the sole care provider responsible for their children. The cause may be due to a sudden death of a spouse, an unexpected baby or primary custody after divorce. The effects on a single parent can be long term and difficult to overcome. A single parent faces financial challenges, logistical challenges, emotional challenges and social challenges. A child of a single parent is affected by these challenges.
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Financial Challenges
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A single parent often faces financial challenges. The death of a spouse can leave the surviving spouse with unexpected bills and reduced income, plus the responsibility of raising the children all alone. Divorce divides the couple's resources and doubles the living expenses, with two households to support. Single parents can collect child support and alimony if the absent parent earns enough income, though it is often difficult to collect or insufficient to sustain a family. Single parents are also restricted in the type of work opportunities and available hours due to abundant family responsibilities. This can lead to limited income and an inability to pay for basic necessities. They may turn to public assistance for help.
Logistical Challenges
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A single parent faces many logistical challenges that impact her ability to provide for her family financially and emotionally. She often must work full-time and depend on full-time child care services. She must drop her preschool or school-age children off early before school and pick them up late after school. A single parent must have a flexible job that allows her to leave work for sick children, doctor's appointments, parent conferences and school performances. Her work and promotion opportunities may be limited if she appears to be unavailable or her parental responsibilities outweigh her work performance.
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Emotional Challenges
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A single parent faces many emotional challenges as she mourns the loss of a deceased spouse or absent parent. The sudden death, divorce or birth of an unexpected baby takes an emotional toll on a single parent, who may not have anyone to talk to intimately about her personal challenges. A single parent may become depressed and emotionally unavailable. Alternatively, she may hold back her own feelings to help her children overcome their emotional struggles. She must help them work through the loneliness and anger that they experience. Otherwise, they may develop low self-esteem and anger issues. Single parents tend to carry this guilt and blame themselves for the painful emotions that their children feel.
Social and Academic Challenges
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The financial, logistical and emotional struggles a single parent faces absorb the abundance of her time. She may not have time left for a social life. Her financial limitations may leave nothing left for her personal needs or any social activities. She also may not have resources for child care to go out, because she already uses child care full-time during the week to enable her to work. Many single parents work and go to school to improve employment opportunities. This leaves little time to help the children with homework. As a result, the children's grades may sink, they begin to fail classes and eventually drop out of school.
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