Why Single Parenthood Affect Children

Why Single Parenthood Affects Children

hen greater risks are found, we are beginning to develop a better understanding

of those factors that differentiate the children in single parent

families who develop disturbances from those who do not. Understanding

why family instability places some children at greater risk is essential in

planning programs and policies to promote healthy children and families. In this

section, we briefly summarize five perspectives on the possible pathways

through which these effects are transmitted: economic hardship, loss of parental

support and supervision, lack of community resources, parental conflict, and life

stress and instability.

Economic Hardship

Poverty is the most profound and pervasive factor underlying developmental

problems of the young. Roughly, one of two families headed by a single mother

is living in poverty compared with one of ten married couples with children

(McLanahan & Booth, 1989). Not surprisingly, single parents are twice as likely

to report that they worry “all or most of the time” that their total income is not

enough to meet family expenses. On average, poor children in mother-headed

families are poor for seven years, more than a third of their childhood (Garfinkel

& McLanahan, 1986).

The economic differences result, not only from lower income preceding divorce,

but also from the decline in income that accompanies divorce (McLanahan &

Sandefur, in press); the effect may differ somewhat for families who start out

poor or become poor. Nevertheless, the income of single mothers and their children

after divorce is only 67 percent of their income before divorce, while the income

of divorced men is 90 percent of the pre-divorce income (McLanahan &

Booth, 1989).

In one study using four nationally representative data bases, lack of income

emerged as the single most important factor in accounting for the differences in

children from single parent and intact families; differences in income...