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Single-Parent Families

Views Of Single-parent Families

Societal views about single-parent families are expressed in social policies and agendas. U.S. policies, especially those relating to welfare, child care, and family/work support, reflect disapproval of families needing public support, single-parent families in particular. Divorced or "broken" families as they are sometimes called are seen as deviant and a threat to the social order (Faust and McKibben 1999). Other Western countries support the wellbeing of children regardless of the number of parents with programs such as guaranteed child-support payments, health insurance, child care, maternity and parenting benefits, and housing subsidies. Although all families are well-supported, couple-headed families are valued over other family forms.

In many areas of the Third World single mothers are socially ostracized and seen as having inferior status (Kinnear 1999). In the case of widowhood, women are not allowed to inherit property or possessions in many countries where other sources of support are not provided. In the past, unmarried women (with or without children) would have been cared for by the family system, which has been weakened as a result of urbanization. In these patriarchal societies men and women do not share equally the limited resources available to families. Development, especially strategies based on capitalism, worsens the situation for women.

Societal views are also expressed in public discourse about women living outside of marriage and family who fail to live up to the ideals of motherhood imposed through legal and public policies. Feminists argue that efforts to control women's sexuality and enforce mothers' economic dependence upon men are part of a backlash designed to limit women's mobility and freedom (Silva 1996). Rather than attempt to force women into a traditional mold, more institutional support for the new type of dual-earner and single-parent family prevalent today is needed.

Bibliography

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KATHRYN M. FELTEY

Additional topics

Marriage and Family EncyclopediaFamily Theory & Types of FamiliesSingle-Parent Families - Demographic Trends, Mother-only And Father-only Families, Challenges Of Single-parenting