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Caleb Corbin

EN 101

Narration Essay

2 October 2019

The Detrimental Effects of Single Parenthood

According to “Single Mother Statistics,” nearly 26 percent of single mothers were

unemployed for at least a year after becoming a single mother. Therefore, the mother was either

receiving no income or was receiving unemployment benefits. If the mother also did not

complete high school or attend college then it may be very hard to get a good paying job.

Although, there are good paying jobs that do not require college, they would take up a lot of the

parent’s time. Single-parent homes are detrimental to the children that live there because the

parent would not be as involved in the child's life as if there were two parents, the child may not

get all the help they need, and the parent may not make enough money to support herself with a

child.

There are many things that children want their parents to show up to or participate in.

When single parents are working two jobs to pay for their children, it can be very hard to make

time to be available. There are things like plays or spring programs that children want their

parents to watch, but a single parent may not have the time for that. Children also like when their

parents show up to sporting events and support them; sometimes parents even practice with their

child at home. Parents can support their child in many different ways when they choose to or

when they have time to.


Children who live in single-parent households may not have the help they need with

homework or other activities. My mom helps me do my homework, and if she was not there to

help, then I may not get assignments done on time or I might end up staying awake really late

and losing more sleep than if she did help. She also plays soccer with me to help me get ready

for a game or to just spend time together. Doing these things can take up a lot of time that the

parent of a single-parent household does not have. Children, along with parents, have a lot of

things to do and sometimes need their help within their parent’s free time, but children can not

get the help they need if their parent has no free time.

High schoolers, for example, don’t have much time at all to do anything because of the

fact that a lot of high school children have part-time jobs on top of school and other activities. A

part-time job while going to school and having extra-curricular activities is not bad, but some

high schoolers end up having to get a full-time job to help financially support their parent. I had

an old co-worker that was in this situation; she had a single mother that did not make enough

money to support the family of two. Because of this, my co-worker was always stressed out

which led her to either give up school or quit her job and she ended up dropping out of high

school. This can happen with two-parent homes, but it is not as likely. Having a job is important

for a high school student. They can be taught what life is like in the workplace and learn

responsibilities. But having a job can get very stressful especially when the child has to pay the

bills with their parents. A child’s future can be affected due to not being able to do the extra

things in high school and sometimes not even being able to finish high school.

Single-parent homes are not good for children because they would not be able to have

their parent around, the child may not get the help they need to get work done, and unless the
parents have a good paying job, they may not have enough money to support themselves and a

child. The financially unstable families would then be able to apply to one or more of the many

benefits started to help people pay for their home and family. Some of them help with providing

food for the family, others just give money to help. Even though single parents can be given food

and money, they cannot be given more time. A parent’s time with their child is crucial. It is very

hard for one parent to find a way to balance all of these factors out, and some manage to do so,

but some cannot. In contrast, with two-parent homes, the two parents can have jobs and double

their income while also having time for their children.


Works Cited

Roiphe, Katie. "In Defense of Single Motherhood" ​Acting Out Culture: Readings for Critical

Inquiry,​ by James S. Miller, 3rd ed., Bedford/St. Martin's, 2015, pp. 58-61.

“Single Mother Statistics.” ​Single Mother Guide,​ 29 Aug. 2020,

singlemotherguide.com/single-mother-statistics/.

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