In recent years, the nuclear family setup is increasingly getting replaced by single-parenting. Commonly, single-family households consist of ones headed by a father and the others headed by a mother. However, single-parenting has been on the rise facilitating grandparents to raise their grandchildren in recent years. Despite the single-parent families becoming more popular, this family set faces many challenges financially and health-wisely (Carr & Springer, 2010). This responsibility of a single-parent providing for the children and supporting their children morally and mentally becomes an uphill task. Single-parenting leads to children and parents themselves developing mental issues and the likelihood of falling under the poverty line. In this literature review, there will be further discussion of single-parent families and their influences on mental health and their influence on financial stability.
Inside the US, the one dominant family is slowly fading. Many parents are raising their kids in an increasingly evolving family setup. In a report by Pew Research Center (2015), today’s families are getting smaller by the day due to single-parent families and a significantly reduced fertility rate. According to the report, four in ten kids born in the US account for single women or women living in non-marital settings. In 2014 more children lived with single-parents than children living with two-remarried and cohabitating parents combined (Pew Research Center, 2015). The report addressed this as a social problem that called for quick mitigation.
In addition, several factors have impacted the emergence of single families. In a study by Cherlin (2010), marriage has been influenced by the education system in the USA. In previous years, most people used to get married by the age of 25. In early 2000, the marriage age began increasing due to the education system. This is because most people in the bracket of 25-30 years are winding up their education and beginning to find a balance in life as they commence their career journeys. According to Ceuwenhuis and Maldonado (2018), in the United States, single-parent families have the biggest poverty rates. Poverty is defined as when a household is living below a given income threshold. Single-parents homes face a high risk of falling into poverty than families supported by two parents, mainly when the two parents are earners. The poverty levels in single families have resulted in looking for alternative means to support the family’s livelihood. Social support offers the single-parent family member practical and social support. A study by Gladow and Ray (1986) revealed that social support could be beneficial and disastrous for a low-income family.
Demographic trends have enormously changed Social-economic situations and family structures. A research carried out by Smock & Schwartz (2020) suggests that new demographic trends in the USA have contributed to ethnicity and social classes. These have been significant factors that have disrupted the nuclear family setup and led to new family structures patterns. Smock and Schwartz (2020) identified that divorce, same-gender marriages, immigrant families, and marriage and remarriage are the leading factors contributing to the new patterns in the marriage demography.
The research concluded that divorce and cohabitation had increased childbearing outside wedlock, increasing single-parent families. McLanahan and Percheski (2008) also researched how these new trends have contributed to social inequalities in families. According to his research, the last two decades have been characterized by increased income inequalities and changes in family structures. Family structures have led to a rise in social injustices like racism, social classes, and gender inequality.
The review of the study indicated that income injustice and changes in family frameworks had increased single-motherhood cases. This case has been prevalent, especially for the less educated women in society. The context in single-motherhood decreases the economic mobility affecting children’s development and the mental health of parents caught up in single-parenthood (McLanahan & Percheski, 2008). In many countries, single-parent families have reported poor mental health compared to nuclear families (Collings et al., 2013). This study indicated that gender differences and income inequalities have contributed to the deteriorating mental health among single-parents. Single-parent families’ mental health remains a global menace, and single mothers have been affected the most (Collings et al., 2013). The research indicated that single mothers received psychological distress of 15.7% while single fathers face a distress report of 6.1%.
Individualism and changing lifestyles have contributed to single-parent families. According to Neises and Grüneberg (2005), more than 2.4million single-parents lived in Germany, where over 80% were single-parents. According to this report, single mothers showed more mental disorders than married female partners. This is because single-parents are highly affected by socioeconomic conditions. In the US, there are approximately 20 million children living with single mothers. The pressure and social prejudice to raising their children result in mental disorders for these mothers (Single-parent Project, 2020). This project also revealed that nearly 42% of single mothers in the US have low-income jobs with no paid leave, making them live under the poverty line.
People with low income are likely to suffer from mental illnesses due to depression and stress from social incompetence and stereotypes attached to poverty and single-parenting. These stereotypes and prejudices negatively affect the stigmatized group, leading to self-isolation and self-discrimination. According to Bowker et al., (2021), self-isolation and self-discrimination lead to harmful eventualities, which risk the individual to isolation. Occupation activities have also increased the psychological problems for single-parents. For instance, parents working in the military and have been deployed in war zones. Analyst Vaughn-Coaxum et al., (2015) indicated that single-parents who were deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan wars suffered family disruptions and were more affected by post-traumatic stress disorders after their deployment. This increased their risk of suffering from isolation and loneliness than their colleagues who had support from nuclear families.
Financial aids are priceless in the life of single-parents. The national welfare programs for economic cooperation have been highly concerned about raising single-parents’ employment opportunities. Economic support is essential for single-parents in combating hardships and social problems. Research by Webb and Lorant (2018) indicated that the economic support for single mothers in the UK reduced the mental challenges for single-parents. The research also indicated that financially challenged single-parents and their kids had mental health issues in Sweden and were more susceptible to alcoholism and drug abuse than partnered parents.
The rare occurrence of single grandparents raising their grandchildren has been on the rise in recent years. Solo grandparents in parenting suffer from mental, physical, and chronic diseases more than single-parents. Whitley reported that parenting for many years takes a toll emotionally and physically on the solo grandparents, especially when taking the parenting responsibilities of their children. The relationship between financial stability and mental health has been well researched, but none has been documented on financially struggling single-parents. Understanding these concepts will help understand the problems and help in mitigating them.
References
Bowker, J. C., Coplan, R. J., & Nelson, L. J. (2021). The Handbook of solitude: psychological perspectives on social isolation, social withdrawal, and being alone. (2nd ed.) Wiley
Carr, D., & Springer, K. W. (2010). Advances in Families and Health Research in the 21st Century. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72(3), 743–761. Web.
Cherlin, A. J. (2010). Demographic Trends in the United States: A Review of Research in the 2000s. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72(3), 403–419. Web.
Collings, S., Jenkin, G., Carter, K., & Signal, L. (2013). Gender differences in the mental health of single-parents: New Zealand evidence from a household panel survey. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 49(5), 811–821. Web.
Ewart, S. B., Happell, B., Bocking, J., Platania-Phung, C., Stanton, R., & Scholz, B. (2017). Social and material aspects of life and their impact on the physical health of people diagnosed with mental illness. Health Expectations, 20(5), 984–991. Web.
Gladow, N. W., & Ray, M. P. (1986). The Impact of Informal Support Systems on the Well Being of Low Income Single-parents. Family Relations, 35(1), 113-125. Web.
McLanahan, S., & Percheski, C. (2008). Family Structure and the Reproduction of Inequalities. Annual Review of Sociology, 34(1), 257–276. Web.
Neises, G., & Grüneberg, C. (2005). Socioeconomic situation and health outcomes of single-parents. Journal of Public Health, 13(5), 270–278. Web.
Nieuwenhuis, R., & Maldonado, L. (2018). The triple bind of single-parent families: Resources, employment and policies to improve well-being. Policy Press.
Pew Research Center. (2015). The American family today. Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends Project. Web.
Single-parent project. (2020). Single-parent Statistics. The Single-parent Project. Web.
Smock, P. J., & Schwartz, C. R. (2020). The Demography of Families: A Review of Patterns and Change. Journal of Marriage and Family, 82(1), 9–34. Web.
Vaughn-Coaxum, R., Smith, B. N., Iverson, K. M., & Vogt, D. (2015). Family stressors and postdeployment mental health in single versus partnered parents deployed in support of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Psychological Services, 12(3), 241–249. Web.
Webb, R. T., & Lorant, V. (2018). Neoliberal welfare reform and single-parents’ mental health. The Lancet Public Health, 3(7), e307–e308. Web.