In Defense of Single Motherhood
Is there a reason traditional families have lasted for thousands of years? In the argumentative essay “In Defense of Single Of Motherhood” by Katie Roiphe, the author is arguing that a single mother is a significant way to raise children. Roiphe also includes how being a traditional mother and father family is unsuccessful and frustrating. Although being a single mother may work for her, countless numbers of single mothers struggle in many different ways. These struggles affect the mother and the children as well. Being a single mother is harmful for a family because a child needs a father figure, it is too much stress on one person, and it is financially difficult to raise a family on one income. A
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They could think that their mother and father split up because of them. This is not fair to a child as it has nothing to do with them, but that stress of them thinking that could be toxic to their mental health. The mother could also displace her frustration onto her children causing some mental wounds. In today’s society, you are required to achieve a steady income to support your family. Traditionally, the father is the financial provider in the house, while the mother has a second income to give a helping hand financially. A single mother will have to get a job that can provider her many hours of work to recieve enough money for stability. Working many hours can be hard because not only do you have to complete your work for your company, you also have to complete the work that needs to be done at home as well. A single mother would have to be the single provider for herself and the children. This means she will have to find a job that is flexible with her schedule, so she can provide care for her children as needed. The author writes in her arguments “I am lucky enough to to be living in financially stable, relatively privileged circumstances” (Katie Roiphe 58). The author states she is “relatively privileged”. This means she is more than likely doing well financially, but she does recognize she could be struggling like many other single mothers. This is why it is always good to have the father around for support. A father
Did you know that more than one fourth of all children in the United States live with only one parent? Single parenting has become more common today than in the 1800s, when it was sometimes frowned upon. As the years have gone by, it has become easier and easier for women to become single parents. In the 1800’s if husbands died or abandoned their families, women had no choice but to work for extremely low and unfair wages. Today, most men and women are treated equal and receive equal wages making it easier for women to be single parents. This concept is shown in Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer through Aunt Polly in the 19th century, single parenting is also common today.
Parents that are going through a marriage breakdown, divorce and separation can be stressful for all involved particularly the children/young person. They can become emotionally withdrawn and suffer a lack of confidence which can create low self esteem. Due to family upheaval, they may lose focus in their own abilities and suffer mentally. Similarly, children
In 2002, number of children living with their single parent was 16.5 million (Davidson). The most important thing is that each single-parent family is different from the other. Children who live with a widowed mother will definitely be living a different home life from children with divorced parents or the one whose parents were never married. Children of the parents who were divorced will always have some kind of relationship with parents and parents’ partners. But it is obvious that children from single-parent families face tougher times economically as well as
In Judith Stadtman Tuckers “The Least Worst Choice: Why Mothers Opt out of the Work Place” Judith Stadtman Tucker looks at why hard working, intelligent woman are choosing to leave their high end jobs to stay at home with their children. Judith Stadtman Tucker expresses her option that it is nearly impossible to work 40 hours a week, be available on your off hours as well as raise children. I fully agree with Judith Stadtman Tucker’s point of view that it is absurd to have to be at the mercy of your employer even in your off hours, nor less if you are attempting to create an emotional connection and successfully raise a child. It is no question that even in today’s modern society that it is assumed that woman are the best caregivers for young children. If you are put in a position where you have a child to raise, is it more appropriate to abandon your career or to emotionally abandon your child to a stranger or strangers and allow them to raise it? Judith Stadtman Tuckers argument against mothers having to choose between the joys of parenthood and the freedom of being able to work a career really speaks to me because it makes me consider what I want for my own future and what I would choose.
The essay “In Defense of Single Motherhood” by journalist Katie Roiphe is best summed up by the title. The writer is a single mother of two children and is fighting back against the stereotype that say children from a single parent household will not have as fulfilling a life as they would with two parents. She goes on to explain how she believes the studies on single mother-led households are flawed.
Stephanie Coontz in “The Way We Weren’t: The Myth and Reality of the Traditional Family” emphasizes that the traditional and ideal nuclear family widespread in media and textbooks are false and far from reality. In fact, it is common to see more similarities to the traditional family consistent of “male breadwinner and nurturing mother” (1) today than in the past.
Changes to family circumstances can have a profound effect on children. Separation or Divorce can leave the child with a sense of bereavement, like they have lost one of their parents. They may feel angry or confused and worried about what will happen to them in the future. They may also feel that they are in some way to blame for the family breakdown so carry a burden of guilt. These negative emotions may lead to a lack of concentration at school, or exhibits themselves as withdrawn or aggressive behaviours.
God created the traditional family because this is the way that works best for a family unit. A child needs both a mother and father to meet it’s emotional, mental and physical needs. Children should be able to rely on their parents for stability. Traditionally stable families are important because these family structures play a role in the security and emotional stability of the child.
Traditional families versus single parent families. A traditional family household is a household with two parents, mother and father. A single parent family household is a one parent household a mother, or father. This household is usually occurs when a parent dies, parents divorce, or the parents was never married and separated after having a child together. The question at hand is would a child be more successful and mentally stable in life growing up in a traditional family household, or single parenting household? This has been an intriguing argument for many years. I strongly believe a child in a single parent home could grow up to be just as emotionally stable and also be just as successful as a child who grows up with both parents.
In the United States around 82.2% of custodial parents are mothers; 30.4% of them and their children lived in poverty in the year 2009 (Wolf, 2017). The gender gap in the workplace can keep a single mother from being able to fully get out of poverty. A single mother earns less than a single father does. In the year 2015 it was noted that single mothers earned 70.7% of the income single fathers had earned (Industry Week Staff, 2017). It is harder for a single mother, who may have never been married to begin with, to invest in schooling when she is trying to cover the costs of her children and
The situation and view of women has greatly improved over the years in America. Women now have equal access to education, increased participation in politics and the labor market, access to birth control, resources against domestic violence, and other equal rights. Women now have the freedom to decide on the role and impact they want to have to society, which was decided for them in the past. Women can work to gain financial independence or decide to get married and have income to support her family. Families that are earning two salaries can afford the better education for their children and enjoy a higher standard of living. One drawback of a woman and father both working is how it may affect their children. In some situation when both parents become career driven, they will have less time to take on the parenting role. This could have a negative impact the children if proper child care services is not provided for them. To prevent this many married adults who both have desires to advance in their occupation, the decision to have kids will often be postponed until each parent finds a more stable position in
Which behalf is the best side, the single parent versus the traditional family? A traditional family is defined or described as two parents working together to solve anything that goes on in their house. The advantage of a traditional family is that they are going to have a more stable income that will buy them a reasonable house or an apartment. “The traditional families have two parents, the mom and the dad, jointly raising kids with help and advice from each other” (Magnier). An accustomed family also expresses their feelings towards one another and has respect among others in their home. A dysfunctional family is usually described as conflicted adults living on their own. Although a dysfunctional family may sound inadequate, it is
Single parents don’t necessarily raise their children alone; they can have support from family and friends. Single parents also tend to parent better, they are stricter with their decisions and their children respect their choices. When it comes to creating a healthy family, it's not about the number of parents, but the quality of parenting a child receives that is most important. A home is only "broken" when healthy family interactions break down, for example when people stop communicating adequately. In the situation where both parents are raising the child, but the family situation isn’t healthy it can do more harm on the child than good. Certain situations such as a violent household
With or without the existence of this challenge, women have been gaining a steady foothold in the workplace. In fact, in America it has become a natural cultural trend for there to be dual incomes within the family and many families could not live the lifestyle that they do without the female’s contributing income to the family. This is the new norm in our local society. The new roadblock that we face now is when it comes to a single-income family in which the breadwinner is the female. So now the question becomes, why? Why is this idea so difficult for us to accept? Stay at home dads, aka; Mr. Mom’s, are becoming more and more a trend of today. Some of the factors that go into a decision like this are things like benefits, childcare, and which earner has the
For the first five years of my childhood, I was raised in a single parent home. My mother would have to work harder to provide anything that was needed for me and my other siblings. But that changed when my father came back into our lives when I turned six. From that point on our family structure took a drastic change for the better. My mother didn't have to work as long as before, so we were able to see her more often. Having two parents at home caused the quality of our lives become better than it was before when only one parent supported us. For many households, however the reality is that only one parent during their upbringing. This does have a rather big effort on them in the life of the child and the parent who is raising the child. A single parent household harms the parent and the child.