Single Parent Households: Are Children Reared in Them Doomed to Fail?

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Single Parent Households: Are children reared in them doomed to fail? Crystal S. Cumbo WRTG101/4035 March 10, 2012 The dynamics of a family structure have changed considerably in the United States over the past four decades. An increase in the numbers and proportion of children born outside of marriage and a rise in divorce rates have contributed to an increase of nearly “three-fold in the proportion of children growing up in single-parent families since 1960” (Parke, 2003). This harsh reality has prompted public concern and a great deal of controversy, particularly about the effects of these changes on the well-being of America’s children (Parke, 2003). There is a common misconception that children reared in two-parent (or married) households fair better than those raised in single parent households; and that single parent households produce troubled children. While it may be true that a two-parent household is the ideal living situation for children and is critical in producing well-rounded children, the vast majority of children raised in single parent households grow into adolescence and young adulthood without serious problems (Pollet, 2012). So, the question remains -- are children reared in single parent households doomed to fail? During the 1992 American Presidential Campaign, then Vice-President, Dan Quayle ridiculed Murphy Brown—the lead character of a popular television sitcom for giving birth outside of wedlock (McLanahan & Sandefur, 2004). Quayle’s remarks sparked political controversy that focused on family values, specifically about single mothers, children brought up without fathers, and its affects on the nation as a whole (McLanahan & Sandefur, 2004). Some individuals in the political forum set out to address concerns that single motherhood had no long-term negative consequences on

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