Single Mother Families
Almost 75 percent of single parent homes today are led by a single mother. Women are left to raise their children for a variety of reasons including divorce and the death of their spouse. Large portions are left as single mothers from having relations with someone before deciding to get married. There is also the decline of social stigma for not getting married.
Family structure can play a significant role in child development. Single parent homes can have various effects on children growing up. Over the past four decades, the number of children from single mother families has increased. This has caused some concern amongst policy makers and the general public. Researchers have found the increase in single mother families to be a cause of child poverty in the United States. Also, children from single mother homes have an increased chance of developing psychosocial morbidity.
Families of single mothers affect boys and girls differently. It is commonly believed that young boys need father figures in their lives or they will be brought up wrong. This is not always true. It is true, however, that broken homes in general can have a negative effect on boys, including their behavior and grades in school. Research has shown that broken homes play a bigger role in the development of young boys than their sisters.
Financially speaking, single mother homes tend to be less well off than homes led by single fathers. This could be because of the differences in pay between some women and men in today’s society, although this difference is slowly getting better. Money plays a large role in the development of children because it can improve conditions in the home and help to raise children more effectively most of the time.