A Decade Long Study Reveals The Impact Of Having a Single Parent On Children

Having both parents actively present in your life is considered to be a blessing however this is not possible for everyone to have as sometimes, and rather unfortunately, one of the two parents passes away or a married couple resorts to divorce when they are not able to save the marriage.

In such cases, children are raised by a single parent, which can be an extremely hard feat in itself, but also, according to a study, it can have other impacts on the children as well.

Impact Of Being Raised By A Single Parent On A Child

Our society usually speculates that kids raised by a single parent are neglected and are hard to control. It is a common notion that by being neglected, such children develop attention-seeking habits which causes a lot of trouble for the child and the people around that child.

Thankfully, this speculative assumption has been proven wrong by a decade-long study which has proved that being raised by a single parent is more common than we think and it does not have any negative impact on the child. It was further proved in the same study that the number of parents who raise a child does not have any effect on the upbringing of the child.

A decade-long study has proved that being raised by a single parent is more common than we think and it does not have any negative impact on the child.

Experiments And Surveys

Purpose Of The Study

The researchers aimed to increase awareness among society, the government, and the organizations that work with single parents, about the issue of automatically assuming that kids with single parents are going to have a harder life, which, as they have proven, is simply untrue.

They also wanted to shed light on the fact that families can be diverse and there is no one way to define what constitutes a family. An implication of the study is that, while making policies regarding child welfare, the diverse system of families should be taken into account. Furthermore, it should also be kept into mind that separation of a couple does not mean that one of the parents completely disappears out of the child’s life.

The researchers also found that there are a number of other factors that have an effect on the well-being of the child, such as support from other networks. For instance, in a situation where a child is raised by a single parent, the presence and absence of support from a grandparent plays a minor but beneficial role in the well-being of the child as well.

An implication of the study is that, while making policies regarding child welfare, the diverse system of families should be taken into account.

Sumi Rabindrakumar from Gingerbread, a charity providing support to single parents, states that by accepting the fact that families can be diverse and different from the stereotype of being headed by two straight parents can change the public and political narratives against single parent families.

Another expert further adds that single parent families are more common than we think. Through this study, the government and the organizations dealing with single parent families are advised to make policies and take such actions which minimize negative stereotypes against single parent families and the children raised by single parents.