Review of Related Studies

Mugove (2017) cited in his study “Challenges encountered by a single parents in the

learning and development of Children,” most single parents are not gainfully employed resulting

in them being unable to provide all the needs of their children. The study assumes that in most

instances, single parents had no time to supervise their children’s homework because they are

working with extra effort to get some money to provide for the family. The study also concludes

that solo parent faced challenges in paying the school fees for their children because they are

unemployed or if they were employed, they were involved in lowly paid jobs. Mostly of children

from single parents had behaviour problems because their guardian had problems in monitoring

the behaviour of their children due to their schedule in their work.

Weldegabreal (2014) stated that the impact of raising a child as a single parent is

dual directional; the impact is both on the children and their single mothers. Based on the study

narrating the experience of solo parent raising their dependent children, single mothers tend to

suffer from feeling of guilty, shame, resentment, anger and anxiety about the future. The most

important findings are also that the children of a single parent do understand these challenges

and have developed outlooks to their parent expressed with comments like “she is raising me like

both mother and father,” and so on. In addition, single parent or mostly single mothers also tend

to disengage from family and friends, not taking the time to maintain old relationships or to build

new supportive ones. Single mothers in the study that considered as the participants reported that

they wished their children would have a healthy relationship, self-dependent so that they may not

have to suffer like them and would not follow in their trend. Also the study revealed that,

although their parent allowed them to make their own choices in relationships, children of single

parent families wanted to have a long-lasting relationship. The study concluded that the findings
they gathered showed that the life of a single parent specifically single mothers in Lideta Sub

City in Addis Ababa is full of challenges.

Being a solo parent is definitely a hard situation because there are many reasons why a

family is incomplete; maybe it’s a choice or the situation gave it. And that’s why the study of

Rahel Weldegabreal reveals the hardships and sufferings of a single parent. They feel guilty

because as their child grew up, they will surely find care from a missing parent or the other half

of the parent caring them. But, the most important thing is when their children fully understand

the situation and thankful for all the hardships their solo parent does. And because of the

situation, single parents don’t want their children to be on their situation on the near future, as

they are trying to persuade their child to engage and socialize with other people. It is not

confusing that their child wanted a true and long-lasting relationship because they witnessed the

tough journey their solo parent had faced. Single parents aim nothing but the success and

happiness of their children. The study also showcases the hardships of a single parent as they

fully gave their all to raise their children in a good life. Truly, a parent’s love, particularly a

mother’s love will be the sweetest gift a person will ever receive.

Richter, Lemola (2017) cited that single parenthood is increasingly common in Western

societies, with 27.5% of children in the US currently being raised in single parent households.

The main analysis showed a significant association of the different childhood family settings

with general life satisfaction. The study showed that growing up with a single parent is related to

a stable although modest reduction in general life satisfaction across the adult life-span until old

age when adjusting for poor childhood SES. Furthermore, as a limitation of the study, it remains

impossible to derive causality as growing up in a single-mother household and adulthood life

satisfaction might both be influenced by a third variable such as genetics factors. In conclusion,
the present study shows that growing up with a solo parent predicts a small but stable decrease in

life satisfaction across adulthood that is partly explained by lower socio-economic status and

educational achievement, inferior physical health, poor social integration, and lower likelihood

of romantic relationship success in adulthood.

The study defined the life of having a solo parent while growing up. It showed that

nowadays, this case is spreading and it is not good news because many lives will not be the same

as a complete family unlike others. It emphasized the reasons why this situation occur; the

situation given it or a choice. It is also stated the life contentment of a person grew up in a solo

parent family. Yet, this situation can’t affect the happiness of the person experiencing it but will

decrease its chance to have a relationship in the near future because of the scenario they

witnessed with their parent having no one to support their family.

Tuason (2011) stated on their study the psychological experience of people under poverty

among 2 groups of Filipino people interviewed as this; one who rose as poor but became rich and

who remained poor. The study assumes that the person who was once poor but became rich

might experience deprivation, perceived because of their situation and many more that cause him

to strive for better. While on the ones who stayed poor, they experienced also what the first

group of participants went in but they deal with it indifferently. The present study’s relevance

lies in its investigation of the phenomena of poverty between two groups of people who were

raised poor. The study provides rich narratives of people’s experiences in poverty. Essentially,

the two groups of people who grew up poor mirror each other- they are more similar than

different.
 Poverty is one of the major problems in our country. In Tuason’s study, it stated that

poverty is a choice. Staying poor is an individual choice because if you want to be successful,

there’s no any situation that can stop you. For example is our study, single parent is not easy

especially that they are experiencing poverty and the only source of income is embroidery. Back

to the study, the two groups of participants showed that we can decrease the rate of poverty; our

current situation can inspired us or will bring us down. Just like what the study stated, the two

groups are quietly similar, the one who remained poor might had lose their faith to what they can

do and think that there are no way out of the situation, and on the other hand, the poor that

became rich, they used their situation to reach what they want to be. Choose wisely then choose

the best for a successful life.

The study of British Journal of Psychology Research (2015) stated, “hard work is doing

all you can by determination and perseverance with self-motivation to achieve a set goal. Hard

work is using a lot of time and energy to do work because you expect to reap rewards. It is

dedication of time and resources toward the achievement of a goal and pushing through until the

desired target is realized. To put in extra effort in activities that is targeted at achieving goals. It

involves perseverance and commitment to work; hard work is about being diligent to what you

do. It involves committing quite a number of hours when needed to achieve a set target, it is

about being focused and able to work alone and as a team to reach a set of goals. The individual

should blend his personal and organizational objectives together to achieve a common goal.”

The analysis specified the key to reach the success; hard work. Every human have

different goals in life and in order to fulfil it, you need motivation to continue and the most

important is hard work. You will reach nothing without it. Hard work as defined in the study, a

person will give their some time to achieve a dream. It is about giving your best to the thing you
are doing in order to reach a specific goal. On this area, extra effort and energy will be released

as it takes a long time before you meet success. Hard work, as the study revealed, is so important

in reaching a goal because it can take you far. Along the journey, persistence will be a big need

in order to pursue and keep on fighting because at the end, it will be all worth the wait. As it

related to our study, the situation of the participant of the study is no joke, embroidery as the

source of income for the family that she supporting alone added by the fact that she have a

children that needed financial support for their studies.

According to the study of Funmilayo Oriyomi (2011), “the effects of single parenting are

far reaching because it does not only affect the parents, it also affects the children. In fact, the

effects are more devastating on the part of the children because single parenthood leaves them

with deep scars. Being a single parent is very tough and challenging task. Many of the problems

that single parents have are similar to those of two parents family