Lydia Hoskins Hoskins 1

3/9/2020
English Composition II
Mrs. Strehle

How does growing up with a single parent affect the child involved?

Being raised in a single parent household, or having divorced parents, is becoming more and
more common, but how does this affect the children that are involved? There are nearly 13.6
million single parents in the US today, if this is so common why do studies say that people who
are raised by a single parent will be less fortunate than children who are raised with both
parents. This is something I think about a lot, being raised by a single father and now myself
raising my daughter alone, how has this changed the way I, and my daughter, look at
relationships?

In 2012 the number of single parents was below 18,000, and according to the Census
Bureau information, that number is only going to rise(Kunz). One of the most common
arguments is that children that grow up in a single parent home tend to lack in school due to
less resources than children who live with both parents. The argument for this is that a single
parent may struggle to afford a tutor, or that the child gets less help with school work/attention
due to their parent working more. Studies have shown that for every $100 a single parent
receives in child support, their child’s standardized test score goes up ⅛ to 7/10 of a
point(Kunz). This shows us that the financial aspect of the single parent is important to see if
that child will be affected in some way.

There are many different situations that can cause a parent to raise their child on their own,
some pregnancies are accidents, some parents get divorced, or one parent can die leaving their
spouse to raise their children. Divorce, however, can psychologically mess with a child,
especially if it is not an easy or smooth divorce. Studies show that children whose parents are
divorced are more likely to show emotional and behavioral problems, these problems root from
the actual divorce and not the single-parenting(Fiese). While their studies have found that the
quality of parents is not better/worse for single parents, there is less conflict found between the
child and the solo-parent(Fiese). Barbra Fiese states that in their studies they have found that
solo-motherhood does not result in psychological problems, while Isabel Sawhill states that
children raised by single mothers are more likely worse off on a number of things(Sawhill).

Reachers suggest that the main difference between single parent households and “normal”
households is income. A single parent household only has one income, and oftentimes has to
pay for child care due to not having help(Sawhill). A study was done on single mothers and
forty-four of them fell into the weak parenting categories, only leaving 3% in the strongest

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category, this does reflect on the fact that there is only one income and single mothers tend to
have less education due to bearing a child and becoming discouraged to further their
education(Sawhill).

Another topic that I have not mentioned yet is substance abuse among children being raised by
a single-parent, the number is higher for children that live in single parent homes, but the
number of mothers that abuse substances between single mothers and married mothers is only
a 1 percent difference(DePaulo). What does that tell you? A study on grade differences and
relationships on children that grow up with a single parent was done and concluded that there
were no differences at all.The study showed us that did not matter how many parents were in
the picture or even if they were biological parents or not, that problems with grades and
relationships root from high conflict within the families or conflict between the parent and
child(DePaulo).

According to the Census Data, it is not the “norm” for single parents to live in poverty, only about
29.2 single mothers live in poverty and only 16.7 single fathers do(Wolf). This number is ten
percent higher than married couples, which is not a huge difference. A lot of the time when
people think of a single parent they believe that parent is financially struggling, which in some
cases is true, but not all. Data has shown that 50% of single parents are employed and work
year around, only about 30.6% receive government assistance(Wolf).

After doing this research I believe that some children are affected in different ways (depending
on their experiences) from being raised in a single parent household. I do not believe that any
child that is raised by only one parent has a disadvantage, I believe it comes down to the
parenting styles and love that can make or break a child’s future. I would like to do further
research on how being raised by a single parent affects the child’s relationship with that parent,
I believe it would make the relationship closer and maybe even stronger.

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 Works Cited:

Wolf, Jennifer. “Census Data on the Number of Kids Being Raised by One
Parent.” Verywell Family, Verywell Family, 23 Jan. 2020, 9 March 2020

“Children of Single Mothers: How Do They Really Fare?” Psychology Today,

Sussex Publishers, 9 March 2020, 16 Jan 2009

Golombok, Susan, et al. “Single Mothers by Choice: Mother-Child Relationships

and Children's Psychological Adjustment.” Journal of Family Psychology : JFP :
Journal of the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association
(Division 43), American Psychological Association, June 2016, 9 March 2020,

Kunz, Marnie. “The Effects of a Single Parent Home on a Child's Behavior.”

Hello Motherhood, 6 Dec. 2019, 9 March 2020

Sawhill, Isabel V. “Are Children Raised With Absent Fathers Worse Off?”

Brookings, Brookings, 28 July 2016, 9 March 2020