It's not just an American phenomenon: Across the globe, single-parent homes are on the rise. Numbers for one-parent families increased from England to Australia during the 1990s, mirroring demographic shifts reflected in the U.S. census.
Just as in America, those shifts raised new questions about how involved government should be in helping single-parent families, which often are less well-off financially than those led by a married mom and dad.
41. __________
Annie Oliver, a 32-year-old single mother from Bristol, England, thinks so. "You wouldn't believe how becoming a single parent suddenly made me a second-class citizen," said Oliver, who struggles to keep a full-time job and give the extra care her disabled son needs.
42. __________
By comparison, 9.8 million house-holds, or 9 percent of all U. S. households were headed by an adult raising a child alone or without a spouse. The 1990 census showed 26 percent of homes were led by a married mother and father, and 8 percent of homes were led by a single parent.
Similar increases occurred in other countries, though data from those countries are not directly
comparable to U.S. census figures because of methodology differences.
43. __________
Single parent households in Australia rose from 5.8 percent in 1990 to 7.6 percent in 1999.
Other countries that saw large increases, according to the Organization:
—Belgium, 1.8 percent of households in 1990 to 2.7 percent in 1999;
—Ireland, 1.8 percent to 2.8 percent;
—Luxembourg, 1.3 percent to 2.2 percent.
44. __________
Those countries tend to have greater acceptance of single parenting because there are fewer nearby family members to disapprove, Riche said.
Lone-parent family households in Japan increased from 5.1 percent in 1990 to just 5.2 percent in 1999.
45. __________
"The position of one-parent families in any given country is very much a gender issue—women's opportunities, especially working-class women on low income," said Sue Cohen, coordinator of the Single Action Parents Network in England.
[A] In the United States, the 2000 census showed 24.8 million, or nearly 24 percent of the nation's 105.5 million house-holds, were traditional two-parent homes.
[B] Should single parents be afforded tax breaks to help pay for child care? Should employers be monitored to make sure flexible work-hours are offered?
[C] Countries with increases in single-parent homes are often those where the nuclear family structure—just Mom, Dad and the kids—is more common than an extended, multigenerational family living under one roof, said demographer Martha Farnsworth Riche, a former Census Bureau director.
[D] In the United Kingdom, lone-parent family homes increased from 3.3 percent of all households in 1990 to 5.5 percent in 1999, according to data compiled by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. It did not specify whether children in those homes were younger than 18.
[E] Some research suggests children raised in two-parent families are better off than those who rely on one.
[F] Rates were relatively unchanged during the same period in Greece, Italy and Portugal. These countries tend to think more conservatively about family makeup, and there is more pressure to avoid divorce or unmarried parenthood, Riche said.
[G] "Most of the research linking single-parenthood to children's school performance has been done with single nations," .says Dr. Suet-ling Pong, associate professor of education and sociology and demography. "We do not know much about the impact of single parenthood across cultures and countries."