Single Parent Household: where does the Problem Begin?

Some social influences include diminished social capital for children, education, social economic factors, possible health and psychological concerns, the banning of fathers, and abuse of mothers. This article provides the reasons of why single parents kids struggle the most in finding success. Applications will be presented that describe impacts of single-parent households on general society. Issues will be offered that present an impression of the welfares of the single-parent household. A inference will be existing that supports the need for upcoming research into each of the variables composing the single-parent home.

The Single-Parent Household

The number of single-parent families in the United States has increased significantly since the 1970s. Moreover, the fastest growing family type in the United States is the single-parent family, which by 2010 established about 30 percent of all families with offspring, according to the 2012 US Census Statistical Abstract. Single-mother households with children signified more than 8 million homes or approximately 79 percent of single-parent families. In addition, the number of single-father households more than tripled between the time of 1980 and 2010. In 1980, single-father families made up roughly 2 percent of all families with offspring, with less than 700,000 households. By 2010, the number of single-father homes had reached 2.2 million, or about 6 percent of relations with offspring.

Children are incapable of choosing the circumstances of their childhood and adolescence. It is where ever they are birthed where they will find their own opportunities. Moreover, In researching the multiple impacts of the single-parent family, researchers have assessed the implications of ""parental achievement, conduct, psychological adjustment, social competence, and health"" (p. 289) They further concluded that children and adolescents from single-parent households demonstrated higher propensity toward psychiatric disease, suicide or suicide attempt, injury and addiction contrasted with those in two-parent households. Specifically, boys in single-parent families had higher risks than girls for psychiatric disease and drug-related disease, and they also had a raised risk of all-cause mortality. Additional research indicates that the multiple impacts of single-parent households on children are many and multifaceted.

Effect on Social Capital

In addition, Findings were reported, they argued that the most prominent element of ""structural deficiency in modern families"" is the single-parent family. In his research, they identified the ideal situations in which social principal is collected in relation to family condition. He suggested that a number of influences linked to the industrialization and modernization of societies meant that the family in its modern form is low in social capital when compared with formations in earlier times (Seaman & Sweeting, 2004, p. 175). To initiate further understanding, social capital has been described as a characteristic of the relations between people (Seaman & Sweeting, 2004, p. 174). Social capital advantages occur when trust and mutuality allow for access to resources such as human and cultural capital that already exist within the community or social network. Bourdieu described social capital as both a quality and quantity of relationships: ""first, the social relationship itself that allows individuals to claim access to resources controlled by their associates, and second, the amount and quality of these resources"" In this understanding, ""social capital is something controlled by individuals that gains its strength in the aggregate of social networks"" (Seamen & Sweeting, 2004, p. 174). Research into social principal and young commons outcomes also emphases on education. They presented data showing higher school drop-out rates for pupils with a single parent, several siblings and no maternal college expectations (Seamen & Sweeting, 2004, p. 176).

The Two-Parent Family Advantage

Adolescents who receive parenting that simultaneously protects them from neighborhood dangers and cultivates opportunities outside the neighborhood can avoid negative outcomes. Through providing adolescents with consistent expressive support and discipline, effective supervision, and close expressive ties, unified families can often overcome district are disadvantages. Moreover, Saylor, Boyce, and Price (2003) indicated that ""family variables in the first months of a kid's life including low income, single-parent home, and high parenting stress were significantly correlated with conduct problems appearing at 7.5 years of age"" (p. 175, Abstract). Its concluded that having two parents could help with lowering this percentage and lowering the later behavior some kids have.

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