Single parents in the United States
[3][4] The results of the 2010 United States Census showed that 27% of children live with one parent, consistent with the emerging trend noted in 2000.
[5] The most recent data of December 2011 shows approximately 13.7 million single parents in the U.S.[6] Mississippi leads the nation with the highest percent of births to unmarried mothers with 54% in 2014, followed by Louisiana, New Mexico, Florida and South Carolina.
[8][9] The newest census bureau reports that between 1960 and 2016, the percentage of children living in families with two parents decreased from 88 to 69.
[10] The percentage of children living with single parents increased substantially in the United States during the second half of the 20th century.
According to a 2019 study from Pew Research Center, the United States has the world's highest rate of children living in single-parent households.
Census information from 1960 tells us that in that year, only nine percent of children lived in single parent families.
Data supports these claims, showing that in comparison to men, women are doing more than two-thirds of all child caring and in some cases one hundred percent.
[17] The United States Census Bureau found that today, one in four children under the age of 18, a total of 17.4 million are being raised without a father at all.
[15] Women all around the world have been perpetually socialized to adhere to traditional gender roles that place the majority of responsibility for childcare upon them.
Linked to the rising prevalence of single parenting is the increasing quality of health care, and there have been findings of positive developmental effects with modern childcare.
[22] Many of the jobs worked by, or are available to women, are not sufficient and do not bring in enough income for the mother and her children; this is common in the United States and other countries all over the world.
This dependency, while common, may reach far past childhood, damaging the child due to their lack of independence from their parent.
As far as non-specific pros, a strong bond tends to be formed between parent and child in single-parenting situations, allowing for an increase in maturity and closeness in the household.
Gender roles are also less likely to be enforced in a single parent home because the work and chores are more likely to be shared among all individuals rather than specifically a male or female.
