Ethnically Speaking: The Trends In Single Parenting
Ethnic studies have discovered that 90% of single parents are women, while in 1995 32% of Black families are single parent households with dependent children. Only 8% of White families are single parent households and 7% in South Asian families.
Around half of Black women aged 30 and above are primary income generators in single parent households, while only one in ten among South Asian women have this scenario. Such figures indicate the sharp difference of Black and White single parent households.
Other ethnic studies of black and white women ages 15 and 44 found that family disruption is a major concern in future choices of children in terms of childbearing and marriage. An ethnic study conducted by Bumpass and McLanahan found that the daughters of single mothers have a:
- 53% chance of being married during their teen years
- 111% change of having teenage births
- 164% change of having premarital births
- 92% chance of experiencing their own marital-related problems.
The developing behavior of girls that grew up and having their father die early also leads to different effect.
- Black children are not significantly affected if their mother is widowed early in life.
- Parental family status does not have a considerable impact on whether white or black girls who grew up in families would get married again after getting divorced.
- The results show that when family background traits are kept constant.
Bumpass and McLanahan arrived on the conclusion that the finding give strong evidence that women who spend a portion of their livelihood in a single parent environment have a bigger chance of getting married and bearing children early, to have children out of wedlock and have major martial issues that will likely end in divorce.
Regardless of what ethnic group you are in, being a single parent is hard. Those coping with being a single parent normally feel the following: sadness, abandonment, confusion, guilt, fear of being alone, and anxiety. The following advises are crucial to help fight combat these feelings:
1) Forgive and forget – Letting go of unwanted feelings can make one feel happier and lighter. Holding on to anger provides more stress that letting go. Forgetting will make more bearable for you to move on and possibly develop a relationship, and preserving your relationship with your kids.
2) Maintain network and ties with your community – Having honorary uncles and aunts in the community develops camaraderie between the kid and the neighbourhood, and the parent and the neighbourhood. It also enables children better understand that creating relationships is an helpful way to forget the bad feelings that they felt during the divorce of their parents.
3) A sense of accomplishment – When a child is assigned with small tasks, a sense of accomplishment is normally felt. Since additional responsibilities have been given, a feeling of openness is added. This is due to the fact that a goal has been achieved to assist in the household. This makes the child feel that he is an integral member of the household.
4) Take responsibility – Before, the responsibility of caring for the family was shared between two individuals. Now, only one is tasked to provide for the whole family. Taking responsibility gives power to a single parent to be extra careful in making decision and managing the family. In addition, the parent can request assistance from the children on major decisions such as what items are essential in the grocery
5) Do not forget the old habits– Children need stability in their lives after a traumatic divorce. Rituals as going to dinner every Wednesday or the parent fetching the child from school every Friday should be kept. In this way, the child will feel that even if the parents are divorce, the good rituals are still there.
6) Different experience for the child - Since the child now shuttles between two separate parents, the child can further broaden his perception on how life should be tackled. The child is more receptive and aware to what goes around him, and accepts that the world is not perfect.
