Single parenting: Transitioning alone

Most single-parent families experience a pile-up of changes and demands. Single parents must take on several roles, combining nurturing and earning responsibilities, roles which are assumed by two parents in most families. The children, depending on their developmental stage, may acquire new responsibility. Single parents may be separated, with or without legal sanction, divorced, widowed, or never-married. The family may be headed by a mother, a father, or parents may have joint custody of their children. The larger the family, the more complex the organization; children may be at different developmental stages such as preschool, adolescent, and/or adult. About 20% of all children in the U.S. live in single-parent households, almost a 50% increase since 1970. Single-parent families are most likely to be headed by separated or divorced women. About 11 million children under 18 live with their mother, and one million live with their father. Because one-parent families are a relatively small proportion of the population and deviate from the two parent norm, they experience some discrimination and/or alienation.