What Are the Effects of Single Parenting? – Surviving As a Single Parent

There are studies on top of studies depicting the horrible, poverty stricken, drug laced life a single-parent child will inevitably face. Whether it is father-only homes, or mother-only homes, we hear of the awful challenges destined to fill the lives of these poor children. Are the reports really true? What are the real effects of single parenting?

The Effects of Single Parenting on the Parent

Stressful is the first word most used to describe the life of a single parent But what are the actual effects of single parenting on the parent? Whatever situation has brought them to this point of being solely responsible for the care and upbringing of a child is already stressful in itself. Add to that the responsibilities of paying bills, working full-time or going to school, and then dinner, dishes and baths at the end of the day can leave a parent emotionally and physically drained. A single parent faces challenges that two-parent families can’t imagine. A very true example is one of the single parent becoming ill. All that is required of the family is still required. The children still need to eat, to go to school, to get to football practice and gymnastics class. They still need help with the homework and getting their clothes ready for the next day. The single parent has no one to fill in, to help. Health issues can certainly become a part of the difficult equation of single parenting, again, escalating the level of stress and the ability to meet the needs of the children. The biggest difference between men and women as single parents is that most fathers worry about being able to “keep in touch” with their child; being able to meet their emotional needs. Mothers stress over being able to meet the needs of her 9 to 5 and the needs of her family.

The Effects of Single Parenting on the Children

Social problems, lower academic achievement, and unacceptable behavior are just a few of the issues that our teachers face on a day to day basis more so with children from single-parent homes than not. The stress level of these children is astronomical. Our educational system expects these children to come to school and leave their home life behind, and with that expectation brings added stress levels in children too young to handle it, which in turn, returns home with them at the end of the day.

These children can suffer from everything from depression to psychosis. Not solely because a mother or father is absent from the home, blame cannot lie wholly upon this situation, but the effects of single parenting can and have definitely influenced the life and living of men and women well into their adult lives, and sadly enough, into their own families as well.

What Can be Done?

It is so very important for single parents to reach out for help. Churches, hospitals and doctors, and yes, even Child Welfare offices have the resources to help with the stresses, both emotionally and physically, that go with the responsibilities of raising children alone. But it’s up to the parent to realize and acknowledge that they need help, to realize that they aren’t alone in the fight to keep their family happy, healthy, and together. Admitting that help is needed is not an admission of failure, but of life; a life of hope and love and success for the parent as well as the children.