Are Children Raised in Single Parent Households Worse Off?
Throughout the past half century, a discussion has been brought up that children raised in single family household are deprived of many things, from male/female influences, to being able to do certain activities, and lacking certain characteristics that two parent household children are supposedly able to acquire. Also, many other factors must be brought into play, such as race and economic background. This essay sets out to persuade the reader that children raised in single family households are not worse off, but, in some cases are actually better off than children raised in two parent households.
While there are many stereotypes that are placed on single parent households, there are also many that are fitted with two parent households. One of these is that a majority of the countries single parent house holds are black. While this may be true, the second part of this stereotype is not necessarily as valid: children of single family homes receive less caring for and raising. This is untrue, especially among black people because one of the major beliefs is that “It takes a village to raise our children,” which is basically used in the context that children are not just raised by their parents and those that live with them, but also by their whole community. By having children receive care and raising throughout their community, children raised through single family homes receive just as much, if not more care than two parent households.
Another stereotype used primarily by white people is that “a black female cannot raise a male on her own, that the child will need a ‘male role model’.” I can personally attest to this. My mom, a single black female, raised me and I have turned out scores better than many other white children raised in two parent white households. I do not drink or smoke, yet I know of many white people who are my age, and started doing the things previously mentioned at an early age, and even obtained the paraphernalia from their parents. For one, whether it is a single or double parent household, black households provide more discipline, which helps to decrease many of the problems growing up that many white people are currently plagued with such as behavioral and rebellion problems. This is not to say that black people are perfect, as statistics show that black males are more likely to end up in jail, which is commonly attributed to being raised by single mothers. White children who have both parents are statistically more likely to partake in the use and sale of drugs, child pornography, and school shootings.
While it can be argued that there are many disadvantages between single and dual parent households, there are also many advantages that are supposedly held by the dual parent household. First off, two parent households are, for the most part more financially stable than single parent households. This is mainly due to the fact of a single income versus two incomes. While it is not necessarily true, this is commonly attributed to children raised by single parents living in poverty through out their lives. Also, as stated in the Wikipedia article on single parents, “those living with a single parent were about three times more likely to kill themselves or end up in the hospital after an attempted suicide by the age of 26 than children living with two parents.” This basically means that children living in single parent households tend to be less happy with their lives, whether it is due to financial or other reasons.
There are many different reasons as to why two parent households are preferable to single parent households, but that doesn’t mean that single parent households don’t have their advantages as well. Those who live outside of the situation, commonly accept stereotypes saying that single parent households are incapable of producing “quality” children, therefore giving them a negative view,. Just because a child isn’t raised by two parents does not mean that the child will be incapable of living a quality life.
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