Single Mother

Single parent usually refers to a parent who has most of the day to day responsibilities in the raising of the child or children, which would categorize them as the dominant caregiver. The dominant caregiver is the parent in which the children have residency with majority of the time; if the parents are separated or divorced children live with their custodial parent and have visitation with their noncustodial parent. In western society in general, following separation, a child will end up with the primary caregiver, usually the mother, and a secondary caregiver, usually the father.
There are many facts involving single parenting in the social spectrum of the world today. Single parenting has become an accepted norm in the United States and is an accepted trend found in multiple countries outside of the United States. Single parenting is often a result of divorce in which children exist in a relationship. Custody battles, awarded by the court or rationalized in other terms, determine who the child will spend majority of their time with, this effects children in many ways and there are many suggestions to counsel them. A mother is typically the primary caregiver in a single parent family structure as a result of divorce, unplanned pregnancy, or other factors like death of a partner. Fathers are less commonly seen as primary caregiver but they are growing in recent years. Single parent adoption is an option for adults who want children but are not currently in a relationship or seeking a partner.
The demographics of single parenting show a general increase worldwide in children living in single parent homes. Statistics from the United States, North Korea, and the United Kingdom all fall in line with this trend. Multiple debates concerning single parenthood have come about over time. Debates concerning not only the single parents themselves, but also the children involved, support for the families in single parent households, and more have risen to the surface. Divorce is one of the main events that leads to single parenting. Divorce can have many different effects on the children involved, and there are many ways to deal with it to try to make everything go smoothly. Media are a very important resource for people all over the world. Men and women of all ages are portrayed in the media, mostly on television or in movies, as great parents, showing that this can situation can result in a successful family environment.


Collectively, 83.1% of single parents are mothers compared to 16.9% of those who are fathers. Among this percentage of single mothers, there are multiple factors that contribute to single motherhood: 45% of single mothers are currently divorced or separated, 1.7% are widowed, 34% of single mothers are not married--which may have resulted from accidental pregnancy--or never have been married. There are also a few options for women who want to mother on their own by choice, through adoption, artificial insemination, or in vitro fertilization.
The prevalence of single mothers as primary caregiver is a part of traditional parenting trends between mothers and fathers. In her work Marriages & Families Nijole V. Benokraitis, Ph.D. in sociology and conducted research with marriage and family and gender roles, defines mothers as the expressive role players, who provide the emotional support and nurturing that sustain the family unit. Because of this, she argues, mothers outshine fathers who tend to be stricter and more distant. She goes on to express that one of a woman's expressive roles is that of kin-keeper, an important communication link among family members. Children tend to drift towards preference of parent depending on how involved a particular parent is, and a common problem in society today are absentee fathers; therefore, children are more likely to show preference for their mothers, as they are more involved with them than the fathers.
Cultural definition of a mother's role also contribute to the preference of mother as primary caregiver. Children will lean more towards mothers because of their protective, nurturing characteristics, from a long established mother-child relationship from early on attachment beginning at birth and continuing as the child grows up.[25] In addition to their traditional protective and nurturing role, single mothers have to play the role of family provider as well; since men are the breadwinners of the traditional family, in the absence of the father the mother must fulfill this role whilst also providing adequate parentage. Because of this dual role, 80% of single mothers are employed of which 50% are full-time workers and 30% are part-time. Many employed single mothers rely on childcare facilities to care for their children while they are away at work. Linked to the rising prevalence of single parenting is the increasing quality of healthcare, and there have been findings of positive developmental effects with modern childcare. It's not uncommon that the mother will become actively involved with the childcare program as to compensate for leaving her children under the care of others. Working single mothers may also rely on the help from fictive kin, who provide for the children while the mother is at her job.