Widows and Divorcees with Dependent Children: Material, Personal, Family, and Social Well-Being

Abstract

21 Australian widowed mothers with dependent children were matched with 21 divorced and 21 married mothers and comparisons were made on 4 types of well-being: 1) material 2) personal 3) family and 4) social. Compared with married mothers divorced mothers revealed consistently lower levels of economic well-being whereas widowed mothers tended to have lower levels of personal well-being. Aspects of well-being tended to be higher for mothers who were young and well educated regardless of family type. Family well-being refers to the extent to which family life is experienced as cohesive well-organized and satisfying. 5 items were selected that appeared to serve as indicators of material well-being: 1) total family income; 2) whether the family owned was purchasing or rented their home; 3) the number of rooms in the dwelling; 4) the number of changes of accommodation in the last 5 years; and 5) mothers responses to are there any things you can no longer afford to buy. Maternal age tended to be negatively correlated with aspects of family and personal well-being in all 3 groups of women. Time since family disruption was positively associated with aspects of well-being among widows and was negatively associated with aspects of well-being among divorcees. These findings have several implications for practitioners who deliver services to single parents: 1) interventions aimed at divorcees should primarily be directed toward the alleviation of economic problems and 2) interventions aimed at widows should primarily be directed toward increasing levels of personal well-being.