The Family Times Newsletters Research Review, Spring 1996 Single-parent families tend to be viewed negatively in our culture. Perhaps this is because the two-parent family, with a Mom, Dad, and children, is the cultural ideal. Challenges of Single-Parent Living Negative impacts on children. For instance, children reared in single-parent families may suffer from greater depression and emotional distress, may exhibit greater behavioral and learning difficulties in school, and may be forced to take on adult responsibilities at an early age. When parents decide to live apart, they damage or perhaps destroy the social capital that might have been the child's had they stayed together.
Social capital is reduced first and foremost by the weakening of father-child connections.
The challenges of single-parent living have also been identified from the perspective of the parents themselves. Nearly all were Caucasian and came from middle-class backgrounds. With the exception of ex-spouse problems, a greater percentage of the single mothers than single fathers reported each problem. I was selling a lot of our stuff like the freezer, and whatever else we had, just to keep going. Many children reared in a single-parent family turn out fine.