Are Social Programs and Policies Supporting the Need of Single-Parent Families?
The growth in the number of children that live in single parent homes has instigated the need for policies and programs to improve the status of single-parent families. Single parents confront tensions that arise from their dual responsibility of raising their children while simultaneously earning a living. The correlation between single parenting and poverty is clear. Furthermore, single parents are more likely to face social isolation due to stigmatization. Many single parents also experience feelings of stress, frustration, incompetence, hopelessness and helplessness The poverty level of children living in single parent homes is significantly greater than that of children living in two-parent homes, and continues to increase. Furthermore, children living with a parent younger than twenty-five years old are even more likely to live in poverty and be dependent on social support. Whether single motherhood is the result of family separation or unwed parenthood, it often results in consi
