I do think that we need to pay closer attention to the choices we are making surrounding our families, or we will end up alone. Some third party is always in the background, helping the mother who is unconnected to the father of her child. The third party may be her biological family, but more often the third party consists of impersonal institutions. The person who appears to be raising a child all by herself has substituted some combination of market-provided childcare, employment income, and governmentally provided financial assistance for the other parent. Although some people become single mothers due to the death of a spouse, by far the largest percentage of fatherless children become so due to decisions made by one or both parents.
Some children have divorced parents, while others live with never-married mothers.
The issue is whether any institution, no matter how well funded, can be a genuine substitute for the other parent, particularly in helping the child build attachments. We tend to glorify and glamorize independence. Independence is all well and good, but the truth is that there are times when we are legitimately dependent on others. We are all born as helpless babies, and we may live long enough to be dependent on others for the care of our most basic bodily functions. Americans tend to be uncomfortable with the vulnerability that comes from really facing our dependence on others.