English 121 - Single Parent or Both Which Is Better

Single Parent/ Both

Alicia M. McGee

English 121

August 8th, 2011

Raymond Nowak

Single parent is a term that you hear more today than ever before. And today many single parents do a great job. For I'm a single parent and I can say that I do a great job. But it is hard when there is only one parent compared to two.

Single parent is a term that is mostly used to suggest that one parent has most of the responsibility in the raising of the child or children. And even though us single parents do a great job it's still hard when you are doing it alone then when you doing it as a team.

Experts say: that in the United States the percentage of kids being raised with one parent rather it be the mother or father is 25.8 percent. Compared to other countries that average of 14.9 percent. And it is said that by the year 2030 that percent will increase by 8 percent. For in 2006 12.9 million families in the United States were headed by single parents 80 percent of them were headed by the mother. I can speak on that mainly because I was that myself. And I know first-hand on how hard it's been raising two kids alone rather than it being a unit. I'm 27 and I have been raising my kids alone since I was 21 maybe 22. And it was fine when I lived with family but now that I'm out on my own there are night that I have to sit and wonder what I did wrong and why are my children affected by my mistakes and what are the risks of my children being raised by me alone rather than me and their father or even if he was an active part of their life would I make a difference?

Statistics say: that 72 percent of children being raised in a single family home are black. And that there is also lack of help that support single family homes including childcare, jobs and education alone. Single parents in the United States are most likely to be unemployed 35.8 percent compared to the 21.3 percent of those of a two parent household. It was also noted that public spending on child welfare and education is higher in the United States than other countries $160,000 million percent per child compared to $149,000 of those that come from two family homes. Childhood poverty rates are also expected to climb 23.5 percent from 20 percent.

Most people might not think of being a single parent as a bonus for their child, I know I don't. For there have been many sacrifices along the way and plenty of times that I wish that things were different. But there are still some positive effects of being a single parent compared to not being one. Like developing a strong bond, spending one on one time with the kids. Its shows that those of single parent households have stronger bonds than those with both.