Essay Sample on Single-Parent Homes: Challenges and Growth of Family Life

Introduction

Family life is vital for each person since it impacts significantly on an individual's growth and wellbeing. The current family life is different because the number of single-parent homes is on the rise. There are almost 13.6 million single-parent homes in the U.S raising more than 21 million children based on the Statistics Bureau (Anthony et al., 2011). Single parents have to assume the roles of both genders in the children-upbringing. Single parent homes face many struggles to maintain their homes related to caring for children, reduced parent and children time, lack of a particular figure, and family stress, unlike the two-parent homes - husband and wife share roles.

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Single-parent homes are likely to experience challenges of relationships because of the absence of one key figure in the family. Whenever homes have both the husband and wife, the two parents can help each other to care for their children. They can create strong relationships by establishing strong bonds with children. Parents in single families need to bond with all the children-singlehandedly which a significant challenge (Hofferth, Pleck, Goldscheider, Curtin, & Hrapczynski, 2012). A parent may not have the opportunity to bond with every kid in the family since all the children may have different perspectives. The children are likely to either lack the motherly or fatherly love. In most cases, single-parent homes are likely to have higher chances of rebellious children. Hofferth et al. (2012) found that a lack of a strong relationship between children and parents results in disrespect of parents' authority. Therefore, single parents experience difficulties in creating strong relationships with their kids.

Single parent homes lack a particular figure in the family, thereby resulting in emotional and physical weakness of the members. Men and women have different characteristics, particularly those related to physical and emotional features. Hofferth et al. (2012) note that the different emotional and physical characteristics of gender contribute to the roles of fathers and mothers. Fathers provide their family physical presence while mothers offer the emotional aspects of a family (Johnson, Frenn, Feetham & Simpson, 2011). Although there are gradual changes in gender roles, society still believes that men work harder to provide their families with basic needs. At the same time, women do mother work, such as caring for children and attending to the basic chores. Therefore, the lack of a particular figure in the family creates either a physical or emotional challenge to the single-parent homes.

Single-parent homes are stressed financially and experience the challenge of the enormous roles to stabilize a family. Whenever both parents are not in the family, the home faces many challenges in the diverse aspects of its life. Children are forced to be independent and self-reliant; they attain the maturation ages because they don't get adequate support to facilitate their growth and development (Cherry, 2016). Singe parents have to cope with the financial demands of the family, and therefore, they have to send children to daycares and schooling at an early age for them to work. When the children are infants, the family is likely to experience financial constraints since the parent is not working. Therefore, the family is expected to be stressed to meet the financial demands and achieving stability of children, unlike in the case of two families where they share roles or alternate.

Single parent homes have reduced time for children and parents compared to two parents where they have plenty of time. Single parents are mostly the sole breadwinners of their families, and they put more effort into providing for children. Consequently, they have limited time with their children, unlike the two-parent homes where parents create enough time for their children(Single Parenthood in the United States, 2014). Single parents may not even have time to take children on holiday because they spend much time doing other house chores. Surprisingly, single parents constitute one of the proportions with the lowest incomes in the U.S (Single Parenthood in the United States, 2014). Children in single-parent homes have to assist their parents in attending to some of the less demanding roles in the family. The children may also have reduced time to meet their individual needs, such as completing assignments, leisure, and playing with friends. Therefore, single-parent families have little time for bonding since they are more committed to work both at the workplace and homes.

However, the challenges experienced by single-parent homes tend to make their families more solid and robust to face other problems in the future. Parents and children become self-reliant to face the world because of their endurance to address past experiences. Children from these families gain a special understanding of adulthood to the extent of becoming more responsible at a younger age than children from two-parent homes (Stephen & Udisi, 2016). Parents and children from single-parent households have the concept of real-life such that they can easily balance their priorities to prosper. They are more experienced in handling disappointments and conflict and would view such experiences as opportunities for valuable growth.

Conclusion

Single parent homes experience many struggles than two-parent households. Single parents assume the roles of the father and mother in the provision of the basic needs and caring for the entire family, unlike in the case of two-parent homes where they share and alternate responsibilities. Single parent homes face many struggles to maintain their homes, including caring for children, reduced parent and children time, lack of a particular figure, and family stress. However, children tend to become independent and self-reliant people in the future.

References

Anthony, M. J., Anthony, M. D., Jones, K. E., Cardoza, F., Lawson, M. S., Melick, R. R., & Jones, T. P. (2011). A theology for family ministries. B & H Academic.

Cherry, J. (2016). The communication patterns and experiences of children in single-parent families. Dissertation. https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2598&context=theses

Hofferth, S. L., Pleck, J. H., Goldscheider, F., Curtin, S., & Hrapczynski, K. (2012). Family structure and men's motivation for parenthood in the United States. In N. J. Cabrera & C. S. Tamis-LeMonda (Eds.), Handbook of Father Involvement, Multidisciplinary Perspectives (2nd ed., pp. 55-80). New York, NY: Routledge Academic.

Johnson, N., Frenn, M., Feetham, S., & Simpson, P. (2011). Autism spectrum disorder: Parenting stress, family functioning and health-related quality of life. Families, Systems, & Health, 29(3), 232.

Single Parenthood in the United States (2014). A Snapshot. The Women's Legal Defense and Education Fund. Retrieved from https://www.legalmomentum.org/sites/default/files/reports/SingleParentSnapshot2014.pdf

Stephen, E. N., & Udisi, L. (2016). Single-parent families and their impact on children: A study of Amassoma community in Bayelsa State. European Journal of Research in Social Sciences Vol, 4(9).