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"Single Parents and Their Children" is a myth-busting, consciousness-raising collection of articles that defies all of the stereotypes that diminish and degrade single-parent families. Drawing from scientific research, Dr. Bella DePaulo shows that the dire predictions about the fate of the children of single parents are grossly exaggerated or just plain wrong. What's more, there are ways in which the children of single parents are doing better than everyone else. That's the good news no one ever tells you. Professor DePaulo has been described by Atlantic magazine as "America's foremost thinker and writer on the single experience." This book includes more than a dozen of her most influential writings on single parents and their children. Essays inspired by the daughter of a single mother and guest articles by independent parent Tricia Parker are also featured. Bella DePaulo's articles originally appeared in her popular "Living Single" blog at Psychology Today and her "Single at Heart" blog at PsychCentral, as well as in the Guardian.
Lives on the Edge offers a penetrating, deeply disturbing look into the other America inhabited by single mothers and their children. Its powerful and moving portraits force us to confront the poverty, destitution, and struggle for survival that await single mothers in one of the richest nations in the world. One in five children and one in two single mothers live in destitution today. The feminization and "infantilization" of poverty have made the United States one of the most dangerous democracies for poor mothers and their children to inhabit. Why then, Valerie Polakow asks, is poverty seen as a private affair - "their problem, not ours" - and how can public policy fail to take responsibility for the consequences of our politics of distribution? Searching for an answer, Polakow considers the historical and ideological sources for society's attitudes toward single mothers and their children, and shows how our dominant images of "normal" families and motherhood have shaped our perceptions, practices, and public policies. Polakow's account traces the historical legacy of discrimination against the "dangerous classes" and the "undeserving poor" - a legacy that culminates in the current public hostility towards welfare recipients. Polakow moves beyond the cold voice of statistics to take us into the daily lives of single mothers and their children. The stories of young black teenage mothers, of white single mothers, of homeless mothers are presented with clarity and quiet power. In a detailed look inside the classroom worlds of their children, Polakow explores what life is like if one is very young and poor, and consigned to otherness in the landscape of school. School is a place thatmatters - it is also a place where children are defined as "at risk" or "at promise". Polakow's astute analysis of poor children's pedagogy provides a critical challenge to educators. Written by an educator and committed child advocate, Lives on the Edge draws on social, historical, feminist, and public policy perspectives to develop an informed, wide-ranging critique of American educational and social policy. Polakow's recommendations in the areas of social policy and education point to useful cross-cultural models as well as successful small-scale programs in place in the United States. Yet Polakow constantly reminds us that "small facts speak to large issues". By providing us with a living sense of the other America, she helps us to realize that "their" America is no "other" than ours. Stark, penetrating, and unflinching, this work challenges our cherished myths of justice and democracy.
The proportion of children living in households headed by single women is more than one in five. There is concern (and some evidence) that children of single parents are less likely to be successful adults. The book discusses the trends in public debate about this problem. In particular, it examines the issue of providing public assistance to such families and whether doing so fosters long-term welfare dependency.
Nonwhite and white, rich and poor, born to an unwed mother or weathering divorce, over half of all children in the current generation will live in a single-parent family--and these children simply will not fare as well as their peers who live with both parents. This is the clear and urgent message of this powerful book. Based on four national surveys and drawing on more than a decade of research, Growing Up with a Single Parent sharply demonstrates the connection between family structure and a child's prospects for success. What are the chances that the child of a single parent will graduate from high school, go on to college, find and keep a job? Will she become a teenage mother? Will he be out of school and out of work? These are the questions the authors pursue across the spectrum of race, gender, and class. Children whose parents live apart, the authors find, are twice as likely to drop out of high school as those in two-parent families, one and a half times as likely to be idle in young adulthood, twice as likely to become single parents themselves. This study shows how divorce--particularly an attendant drop in income, parental involvement, and access to community resources--diminishes children's chances for well-being. The authors provide answers to other practical questions that many single parents may ask: Does the gender of the child or the custodial parent affect these outcomes? Does having a stepparent, a grandmother, or a nonmarital partner in the household help or hurt? Do children who stay in the same community after divorce fare better? Their data reveal that some of the advantages often associated with being white are really a function of family structure, and that some of the advantages associated with having educated parents evaporate when those parents separate. In a concluding chapter, McLanahan and Sandefur offer clear recommendations for rethinking our current policies. Single parents are here to stay, and their worsening situation is tearing at the fabric of our society. It is imperative, the authors show, that we shift more of the costs of raising children from mothers to fathers and from parents to society at large. Likewise, we must develop universal assistance programs that benefit low-income two-parent families as well as single mothers. Startling in its findings and trenchant in its analysis, Growing Up with a Single Parent will serve to inform both the personal decisions and governmental policies that affect our children's--and our nation's--future.
This volume explores the causes and consequences of family inequality in the United States, Europe, and Latin America.
The first handbook for the paoidly growing number of American women choosing single motherhood, written by the director of the national organization, Single Mothers by Choice.
Written by a psychologist who's successfully navigated single motherhood herself, this book helps single moms believe they and their families deserve the best life has to offer. Packed with practical tips, smart strategies, and ways to improve the well-being of single moms and their children, this book shows single moms how to improve their leadership and parenting skills. It tackles pressing issues such as self-care, a support network, organizing, finances, discipline, and more. Teresa Whitehurst reminds single moms that they don't need to be overwhelmed and that God loves them, is on their side, and wants to guide and support them every step of the way. While they may get weary, they need never feel alone.
Life lessons from single mothers throughout history form the inspiration for single mothers today. Single moms are not just a product of our modern culture. There have been single mothers throughout history, women who have raised not only their children but also nations with a higher vision for life. Holding Her Head High recounts stories of twelve such women from the third to the twenty-first centuries, women who found ways to twist their fates to represent God's destiny for their lives. These uniquely powerful, brave women, within the scope of their own world and times, are like the ninety-nine percent of single mothers today who never intended to carry that distinction. They are abandoned, widowed, or divorced, all carrying wounds, yet they also all found ways to exhibit courage, kindness, dignity, and faith to heal themselves by healing others. Actress Janine Turner, herself a single mother, describes the social implications for women and children from the Roman Empire through the Middle Ages to Pioneer days, including a single mother of slavery. Stories from women like Rachel Lavein Fawcett, abandoned single mother of Alexander Hamilton; Abagail Adams, a wartime widow; Harriet Jacobs, an unwed mother of slavery whose autobiography was published the year the Civil War began; and widowed Belva Lockwood, the first woman to officially run for President, all carrying wounds but all offering insight, wisdom, and encouragement. Lessons include: Listen for God's higher calling Hold your head high Dare to dream Champion your children Heal with humor Don't Give Up Before the Miracle
Single-parent families succeed. Within these families children thrive, develop, and grow, just as they do in a variety of family structures. Tragically, they must do so in the face of powerful legal and social stigma that works to undermine them. As Nancy E. Dowd argues in this bold and original book, the justifications for stigmatizing single-parent families are founded largely on myths, myths used to rationalize harshly punitive social policies. Children, in increasing numbers, bear the brunt of those policies. In this generation, more than two-thirds of all children will spend some time in a single-parent family before reaching age 18. The damage done in the name of justified stigma, therefore, harms a great many children. Dowd details the primary justifications for stigmatizing single-parent families, marshalling an impressive array of resources about single parents that portray a very different picture of these families. She describes them in all their forms, with particular attention to the differential treatment given never-married and divorced single parents, and to the impact of gender, race, and class. Emphasizing that all families face significant conflicts between work and family responsibilities, Dowd argues many two-parent families, in fact, function as single-parent caregiving households. The success or failure of families, she contends, has little to do with form. Many of the problems faced by single-parent families mirror problems faced by all families. Illustrating the harmful impact of current laws concerning divorce, welfare, and employment, Dowd makes a powerful case for centering policy around the welfare and equality of all children. A thought-provoking examination of the stereotypes, realities and possibilities of single-parent families, In Defense of Single-Parent Families asks us to consider the true purpose or goal of a family.
Whether you became a single parent through divorce, death, adoption, or some other situation, you've probably wondered what the future holds for you and your children. Will you be able to provide the emotional, financial, and spiritual support your family needs? The Single Parent will encourage you in your journey and help avert problems before they arise. It is filled with wise counsel, biblical truth, and real-life stories--the author's own as well as those of the many single moms and dads who have come across her path through the years. It will help you bolster your abilities in such areas as · improving your child's behavior · negotiating boundaries · graciously seeking and accepting help from others · trusting God in the process God cares for the single parent and will provide for you and your children. Let this book give you the tools you need as you walk with him in this journey.