Children Of Single Mothers Research Articles

The psychosocial impact on single mothers' well-being - A literature review.

In India, single-parent families are proliferating. In particular, women are taking the lead in assuming the role. They are the most vulnerable of all the disadvantaged groups. Due to an absence of financial and social support, single mothers endure a great deal of emotional strain. So, the aim of the study is to investigate the various psychosocial factors that influence the well-being of single mothers. Additionally, this research seeks to assess the coping strategies employed by single mothers. This article reviews 80 studies on psychosocial concerns faced by single mothers, focusing on mental health, challenges, and social support. It cites 71 publications from 80 sources from Google Scholar, Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed, between 1980 and 2023. The study used keywords as a search strategy such as "single mother," "mental health," "challenges," and "social support." The results showed that the absence of financial resources, education, and social support had a negative impact on the emotional and social well-being of single mothers. Children of single mothers are more likely to struggle with addictions like alcoholism, tobacco use, delinquency, hazardous sexual behavior, and even suicidal thoughts due to dysfunctional parenting. As a result, single mothers use their religious convictions, support networks, and social networks as coping mechanisms. The study implies that premarital counseling and health education are essential for young couples to prevent family disintegration in the event of divorce and separation. To provide assistance and improve the overall quality of life for this vulnerable population, collaboration between government and nongovernment organizations is necessary.

A BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF SINGLE MOTHERS

In recent years, there has been an increasing amount of research on single mothers internationally. This article analyzes 1543 research papers on single mothers from Web of Science database using CiteSpace literature analysis software. The study found that research on single mothers covers 79 countries globally, forming a close and comprehensive cooperative network between them. The North American region, including the United States and Canada, is a core research force in the field of single mothers. The top 15 research institutions produced more than 30 papers each, with the University of California System ranking first with a total of 72 papers. The journal with the most publications was the Journal of Marriage and Family, with a total of 44 papers. There were 8 authors who published more than 10 papers, with Herbst CM having the most with 16 papers. The frequency of citations for research on single mothers has shown a significant increasing trend in recent years, with a total of 36,624 citations, an average of 23.74 citations per paper, and an h-index of 83. Through the analysis of clustering networks and high-frequency keywords, the research hotspot on single mothers mainly focuses on four aspects: the psychological health of single mothers, the economic and employment status of single mothers, the children of single mothers, and the social support of single mothers.

Work Hours Volatility and Child Poverty: The Potential Mitigating Role of Safety Net Programs

Abstract Despite established links among persistent unemployment, low wages, and children’s economic well-being, social scientists have yet to document how variability in work hours is linked to child poverty. Our knowledge of the safety net’s heterogeneous responses to work-hour instability is also limited. This is of critical importance for scholars and policymakers. Using nationally representative data collected every 4 months, this paper examines how intra-year work-hour volatility is related to child poverty, measured through both the official poverty measure (OPM) and the supplemental poverty measure (SPM). It further assesses varying degrees of buffering effects of cash, in-kind benefits, and tax transfers on income in the context of work-hour volatility. Results indicate that more than one in four households (26%) facing the greatest volatility lived under the poverty line. Black and Hispanic children, as well as those living with unpartnered single mothers, faced substantially higher variability in household market hours worked. Hispanic children experienced not only greater volatility in their caregivers’ work hours but also higher poverty level, even after taking government programs into account. In-kind benefits are more effective in buffering household income declines resulting from unstable work hours, followed by tax transfers and cash benefits. The effectiveness of near-cash benefits is particularly salient among Black children and children of single mothers. These results provide new evidence to inform policy discussions surrounding the best ways to help socioeconomically disadvantaged families to retain benefits and smooth their income in the face of frequent variation in work hours and, thus, earnings.

Only daughters caring for their aging mothers in Ufa, Russia

Russia is not the only country in the world that relies heavily on informal caregiving, but what makes Russia unique is the number of single-parent one-child families. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the transition from state socialism to market capitalism, little has changed in terms of the social protection of older adults. Unaffordable home care services, low pensions, bifurcation of the formerly free healthcare into state and private sectors, the invisibility of people with disabilities, and the absence of quality nursing homes, have left adult children in Russia no choice but to bear the full burden of caregiving for their aging parents completely alone. Given the scarcity of research that examines informal caregiving in Russia in general and in provincial cities in particular, this study addresses this gap by centering on previously unheard voices of a unique group of women: only children of single mothers from Ufa, a metropolitan city in the Ural Mountains. Twenty middle-aged (M = 40.75, SD = 3.43), college-educated women participated in a two-hour, semi-structured interview. Inductive thematic analysis revealed three themes: incongruence with the microenvironment, aging in the “cement box,” and distrust of outsiders. The findings suggest material and cultural constraints that female caregivers face as they negotiate the mothers’ discordance with the microenvironment of Khrushchev-era apartments.

Family, Work, Economy, or Social Policy: Examining Poverty Among Children of Single Mothers in Affluent Democracies Between 1985 and 2016

Family, Work, Economy, or Social Policy: Examining Poverty Among Children of Single Mothers in Affluent Democracies Between 1985 and 2016

Determinants of stunting among children under age five in Burundi: Evidence from the 2016-2017 Burundi Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS 2016-17).

Burundi has one of the highest prevalence of stunting in the world. This study aimed to identify determinants of stunting among children under age five in Burundi. A total of 4993 children with anthropometric measurements from the 2016-2017 Burundi Demographic and Health Survey were included in the study. Stunting was assessed from the height-for-age Z-scores (HAZ). Logistic regression models were analyzed to identify demographic, maternal, child-related, and structural variables that influence stunting. In total, 56.9% of children under age five were stunted, of those 31.0% moderately and 25.9% severely. Multivariable logistic regression indicated that older children, male children (adjusted OR (aOR) = 1.41, 95% CI 1.24-1.61), and children who were perceived as small (aOR = 2.00, 95% CI 1.55-2.59) or very small at birth (aOR = 2.37, 95% CI 1.57-3.59) were significantly more likely to be stunted. Moreover, children of single mothers, with lower levels of education, who were underweight at the time of the survey (aOR = 1.95, 95% CI 1.42-2.68), who had short stature (aOR = 3.76, 95% CI 2.50-5.66) or who conceived more than four children (aOR = 1.22, 95% CI 1.05-1.42) were more commonly stunted. Stunting was more prevalent in rural areas (aOR = 2.53, 95% CI 1.72-3.73) and in households with no access to improved types of toilet facilities (aOR = 1.27, 95% CI 1.10-1.45). The results of this study show that the prevalence of stunting in children under age five in Burundi is alarmingly high and underscores the urgent need for decisive and determined action.

A comparison of perceived maternal love and parentification in children of single-mothers and two-parent families

Objectives: About 20 % of children in Germany grow up with a single mother - this is often associated with multiple strain for the mothers and may have adverse effects on the child-parent relationship. Methods: In two retrospective internet surveys (wave 1 born in 1960s, wave 2 born in 1990s) perceived maternal love and role reversal were assessed in children of single mothers and children grown up in two parent families. Results: In both waves high values of maternal love were reported. For children raised by single mothers, strong effects for age and occupational status were observed. Contrary to literature, no gender specific effects on role reversal were observed in this sample. Discussion: High occupational strain in a single mother was associated with less perceived love in the child.Multiple strain in singlemothers should findmore social and political attention. Regarding role reversal support should address daughters and sons similarly.

The social care-taking of the city-kids. Determinants for day-care attendance in early twentieth-century southern Sweden

ABSTRACT The introduction of a child day-care system is one of the early welfare interventions targeted towards mothers and young children that over time gained great prominence in the Swedish welfare state. Because quantitative research on day-cares in historical settings is generally scarce, in this study, we focus on the determinants of day-care enrolment in southern Sweden during the early twentieth century. We use unique individual-level records of day-care attendance for children born between 1900 and 1935 which have been linked to longitudinal micro-level data for the city of Landskrona obtained from the Scanian Economic Demographic Database. Event-history techniques are employed to analyse the importance of factors such as household composition, parental socio-economic background, marital status of the mother, and mother’s occupation. Of the studied children, 8% were ever enrolled in day-cares, most of them around the ages 3 to 6. The results show that the mother’s marital status, household SES, number of siblings, the presence of other adult females in the household and mother’s occupation are all significant determinants of day-care attendance for children. In this study, we show that in the early twentieth century in southern Sweden, day-care attendance followed a negative SES gradient and was most common among children of single mothers.

Gendered Associations between Single Parenthood and Child Behavior Problems in the United Kingdom.

Internalizing and externalizing behavior problems are associated with a variety of negative child outcomes, but these conclusions have been drawn from research that usually compares children in families with two biological, married parents to all other family types. We compare behavior problems across two-parent, single-mother, and single-father families, which allows us to explore competing gender theories as possible explanations for why child behavior outcomes may be different across these three categories. Results from analyses of the UK Millennium Cohort Study suggest that while children in both single-mother and single-father families initially look like they experience more behavior problems than those in two-parent families, controlling for physical and, especially, social resources explains potential differences. Similarly, when single mothers and single fathers occupy similar family environments in terms of physical and social resources, their children report similar behavior. In contrast to findings from the US, children of single mothers who occupy similar family environments as children in two-parent families in terms of resources perform slightly better in terms of externalizing behavior problems than their two-parent counterparts. We conclude that constructivist theories more accurately explain gendered parenting behavior and its consequences for child behavior problems. Environmental factors such as income, parental closeness, and participation in extracurricular activities have a significant effect on child behavior problems.

Single-Parent Families, Educational Gradient, and Child Deprivation: The Cases of Italy and Spain

This work examines whether the increase of single parenthood in Italy and Spain, specifically amongst women in an unfavourable socioeconomic position, has repercussions for child well-being, understood here as material deprivation. In particular, our main objective is to analyse the possible differential impact of single parenthood on children’s material deprivation in relation to mothers’ level of education. Using the 2014 EU-SILC Module on material deprivation, we identify five areas of child deprivation based on the EU-MODA approach: nutrition, clothing, education, leisure, and social life. In the case of Italy, our main results indicate that, compared to children from two-parent households, children of single mothers with a low level of education have a higher risk of nutrition and clothing deprivation. In Spain, living in a single-parent household is associated with a higher risk of deprivation in terms of social life for those children whose mothers do not have a high level of education. Therefore, the findings suggest that in both countries the growth of single parenthood amongst women with a lower educational level may have an impact on child well-being inequality. This article contributes empirical data to the growing literature on the rise of child poverty in Southern European countries.

Single mothers by choice in Spain: Parenting and psychosocial adjustment in adopted and ART children.

This study explores the effects of family structure (single mother by choice/partnered mother), pathway to motherhood (adoption/assisted reproduction techniques or ART), and parenting style on children's psychological adjustment and social competence. Ninety-eight families participated: 45 single mothers by choice (29 adoptive, 16 by ART); and 53 partnered mothers (27 adoptive, 26 by ART). Ninety-eight children were evaluated (Age = 5.36) by their teachers. As regards family structure, children of single mothers by choice (both adopted and conceived by ART) showed good psychological adjustment and good social competence. No significant differences were observed between them and those living with two parents when all were conceived by ART. However, children adopted by single mothers had higher hyperactivity and lower self-control than those living with two adoptive parents. No differences were observed in terms of nurturing parenting style, either between single and partnered mothers, or between adoptive and ART mothers. The nurturing parenting style significantly predicted better psychological adjustment and social competence among children. The results are discussed in connection with the debate regarding the effect of structure versus family processes on children's psychosocial adjustment. The implications for interventions with single mothers by choice are also explored. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

The Conflation of Single Mothers and Prostitutes in Morocco

The Conflation of Single Mothers and Prostitutes in Morocco

Comparison of resilience in Children of Female Sex Workers and Children of Single Mothers

Abstract Background: Resilience is defined as the maintenance of healthy functioning or adaptation within the context of a significant adversity or threat. Children of Female Sex Workers (CFSW) face stigma, experience inadequate supervision by their mothers due to their odd working hours, absence of father, and unhygienic living condition. Thus, the children might have difficulty forming a secure base with care giver, likely to have low self –esteem and poor self-efficacy. Aim: The current study explored and compared resilience factors in CFSW with Children of Single Mothers (CSM). Methods: Resilience of CFSW was compared with CSM. Child and Youth Resilience Measure was administered on 57 CFSW and 59 CSM aged between 12-18 years. Results: There was no significant difference between the groups in 'Individual' and 'Contextual' domains of resilience. However, there was a significant difference between the groups in 'Care-giving', where CFSW received less physical care-giving and psychological care-giving compared to CSM. Conclusion: The study shows that despite adverse environment and marginalized atmosphere, children can have relatively adequate resilience in all other domains except few, such as physical and psychological care-giving. This might have adverse implications to psychological well-being.

Swedish Children of Single Mothers by Choice, and Children of Heterosexual Couples, Reflect on Child Conception and Other Paths to Parenthood

ABSTRACTThe article presents findings from interviews with 15 Swedish 6- to 9-year-olds from two family forms: children of single mothers by choice and children of heterosexual couples. The article focuses on the children’s reflections on child conception and other paths to parenthood. The children of single mothers by choice mentioned heterosexual intimacy, assisted reproduction, and adoption. The children of heterosexual couples mentioned heterosexual intimacy and adoption, but not assisted reproduction, in the interviews. Heterosexual intimacy was often, but not always, presented as the obvious or optimal path to parenthood by children in both groups, while assisted reproduction and adoption often were seen as secondary solutions. Some children did, however, present assisted reproduction or adoption as optimal for singles. The findings show that heteronormativity is the predominant discourse, but also that most participants acknowledged other paths to parenthood.

Birth Mothers and Transnational Adoption Practice in South Korea: Virtual Mothering by Hosu Kim

294 ADOPTION & CULTURE 7.2 Rev. of Birth Mothers and Transnational Adoption Practice in South Korea: Virtual Mothering HOSU KIM. Palgrave Macmillan, 2018 245 pp. $29.99 (Paperback) ISBN: 978-1349711512. By Jenny Heijun Wills Recently published in paperback, Hosu Kim’s thorough investigation of those she coins “virtual mothers,” offers remarkable insight through a balanced combination of scholarship and anecdote, rendering this book a simultaneously informative and intimate reflection on the most underrepresented people in the adoption constellation . From the outset, Kim rightly remarks on the ways birthmothers are rendered invisible in both public discourse and scholarly conversations, noting “the existence and experiences of birth mothers is seriously limited in South Korean discourse on transnational adoption” but also that they are “even less acknowledged in the adoption discourse in North America and Western Europe” (4). Not only does this observation provide context for the pages to come, as well as the urgency of Kim’s work on the subject, but it also reminds readers of the author’s perspective as a member of the Korean diaspora (2)—uniquely positioned to be cultural and literal translator for the book’s diverse audience. Five robust chapters are grouped into two sections, organizing Kim’s theorizations around “Unbecoming Mothers” and then “Virtual Mothers.” Chapters in the first section articulate the gendered (and classed) violences that create(d) birth mothers, such as mid-twentieth century “population removal polic[ies meant] to deal with an excess population of mixed-race children after the war” (66) that “frame[d] the birth mothers’ act of surrendering the child as an act carried out to fulfill the imperative of national/family security” (68) in moments when Cold War tensions were escalating. In this first section, Kim addresses the ways that adoptees, considered “excess ” by the postwar South Korean national imagination, consisted mainly of “the children of single mothers, poor mothers, and divorcées; the disabled; and twins” (55), and focuses on two groups of birth mothers who are registered through the lens of heteronormative relationships with men: women involved in relationships with married (and therefore, unaccountable) men—both Korean and American— and widows. Here, Kim draws on interviews with birth mothers to think through the invention of that category of personhood in South Korea, drawing important links between poverty and figurative as well as literal gendered violence. The interviews reveal the sorrow and grief that is always antecedent to adoption without veering into the territory of reductive or oversentimentalized tropes. In another chapter, Kim describes the history and ongoing practices of South Korean maternity homes, and especially those that are part of adoption agencies . Again, by way of extensive interviews, Kim recounts the experiences of birth mothers who, for different reasons, were persuaded by maternity home workers into relinquishing their children for overseas adoption. Although she is careful REVIEWS 295 not to denounce maternity homes outright, Kim unflinchingly paints an image of manipulative tactics, unfair circumstances, and nonconsensual actions by adoption workers connected to these places that purport to offer protection and sanctuary for pregnant Korean women. The two chapters that comprise this first section, summarized by the poignant and multivalent title of “Unbecoming Mothers,” outline how different Korean women become birth mothers—a subjectivity invented and perpetuated by national and social narratives and violences. The second section, on “Virtual Mothering,” begins with a compelling commentary on the most ubiquitous adoptee-centered narrative: the search and return. Focusing on the impacts of this narrative on Korean birth mothers, and with the particular example of television reunion shows that capitalize on and even orchestrate (for dramatic effect) the losses and gains of reunion, Kim offers fresh insight on this infamous plotline. Kim remarks on the irony of the Korean birth mother becoming a meaningful figure, all but erased and rendered invisible when her child(ren) are being taken/relinquished, now key to a new political manoeuvring . Says Kim, “the birth mother, who has been erased from the nation’s official history and adoption discourse, has become a central, newly significant figure appropriated as an allegory of South Korea” (119). The metaphor, Kim suggests, is one whereby the traumatic and ruptured loss of Korean cultural security (after decades of...

Exploring relationships between family food behaviour and well-being in single-headed and dual-headed households with adolescent children

This study explores the relationship between food-related parenting practices, satisfaction with food-related life and satisfaction with family life in mothers-adolescent children dyads with different family structures. We assessed the relationships between satisfaction with food-related life and life satisfaction as well as the relationship between satisfaction with family life and life satisfaction in mothers and their children. A questionnaire was applied to a non-probabilistic sample of 300 married or cohabiting mothers and 170 single mothers and one of their children between 10 and 17 years of age in Temuco, Chile. The questionnaire included the Family Food Behaviour Survey (FFBS), Satisfaction with Life Scale, Satisfaction with Food-related Life scale, and the Satisfaction with Family Life scale. Using principal component factor analysis in the mothers subsample, three components were detected on the FFBS: “Maternal control of child snacking behaviour”, “Maternal presence during eating” and “Child involvement in food consumption”. Using confirmatory factor analysis, the three factor-structure of the FFBS was validated in mothers and children subsamples of both family structures. Using structural equation modelling, we found that maternal presence was positively related to food-related and family life satisfaction in mothers and children of both family structures. A positive relationship was found between child involvement and food-related and family life satisfaction in married or cohabiting mothers. A negative relationship was found between child involvement and family life satisfaction in children of single mothers. We also found that mothers and children life satisfaction was related to satisfaction with family life and food-related life in both family structures. These findings suggest that maternal presence when adolescents eat may improve satisfaction with food-related life, with family life and life satisfaction in mothers and children independent of the family structure.

Protecting rights for underage mothers and their children - Focusing on the adult age of underage mothers and custody of children of single mothers -

Protecting rights for underage mothers and their children - Focusing on the adult age of underage mothers and custody of children of single mothers -

Family structure and full vaccination coverage among children aged 12-23 months in West Africa: Analysis of the interaction effects of maternal education

Childhood vaccination is affected by many maternal socio-economic and family characteristics but these often change over time such that the pattern of relationship needs to be reappraised periodically. In this study, we investigated the influence of family structure and interaction effects of maternal education on full vaccination coverage in the West Africa. Random effects logistic regression was applied to the most recent demographic and health survey data on children aged 12-23 months in six countries. Main explanatory variable was sex of household head and family type. Children living in female-headed households (FHHS) were less likely to be fully vaccinated in five out of six countries [Liberia (OR=0.77), Mali (OR=0.64), Senegal (OR=0.80), Sierra Leone and Togo (OR=0.85)]. Polygyny was negatively associated with full vaccination in three countries [Liberia 9OR=0.79), Mali (OR=0.88), Togo (OR=0.80)]. Interaction effects showed that secondary/higher education enhanced better vaccination coverage among children in FHHs in five countries. Children of single mothers and polygynous women with secondary/higher education recorded higher likelihood of full vaccination. There was a moderate association between family structure and childhood vaccination but the relationship was modified by maternal education which either mitigated the negative influence or amplified the positive effect of family characteristics. Immunization advocacy and awareness programmes may need to target under-five mothers without formal education and those living in female-headed households and polygynous families.

Differences in nutritional status of preschool children in the context of the maternal social characteristics.

It is generally accepted that maternal factors are important in maintaining the adequate nutritional status of young children. This study was aimed at verifying whether mother's socio-demographic (age and relationship status) and socio-economic features (education and professional status) differentiate the child's nutritional status. A cross-sectional study was conducted between April and October 2013. Five hundred thirty mothers of preschool children from 5 different regions of Poland were interviewed. Mothers were interviewed on their socio-demographic and socio-economic status. To assess the child's nutritional status, body mass index (BMI) z-score and the diet indicators were calculated, such as the percentage of the estimated average requirement for energy (%EAR), the percentage of energy coming from carbohydrates (%EC), fat (%ET) and proteins (%EP). Percentage of the estimated average requirement for energy, %EC, %ET and %EP was obtained from 24-h dietary recalls conducted with the mothers. The results showed that mother's education and professional status did not differentiate any of the indices of the child's nutritional status. However, maternal age and her relationship status occurred significant (ANOVA; p < 0.05). Children of younger mothers had higher BMI z-score and higher %EC as compared to children of older mothers. Moreover, %EAR was higher among children of single mothers and it was closer to the recommended nutrition standards as compared to children of mothers with a partner. When a child is diagnosed with any type of malnutrition, it is worth assessing various factors that might influence the nutritional status, such as child's social background (e.g., maternal factors). Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(5):811-821.

Unmarried Mothers and Children’s Social-Emotional Development: The Role of Child Development Accounts

Research has established a negative association between single motherhood and child social-emotional development. This study examines whether Child Development Accounts, an economic intervention that encourages families to accumulate assets for children’s long-term development, buffer the association between single motherhood and child well-being and reduce social-emotional development disparities between children of unmarried and married mothers. The study analyzes data from a policy experiment of Child Development Accounts in Oklahoma, USA, which randomly selected a group of Oklahoma infants born in 2007 and randomly assigned their mothers to the treatment or control group. The intervention provides to the treatment group a Child Development Account built on the existing Oklahoma 529 College Savings Plan with additional financial incentives and information. The analytic sample includes 1,072 children in the treatment group and 1,049 in the control group. Children’s social-emotional development is measured by mothers’ reports of a shortened version of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire in the 2011 follow-up survey when these children were about age 4. Findings suggest that Child Development Accounts have significantly positive effects on social-emotional development for children living with unmarried mothers and eliminate the disparity in social-emotional development between the children of single mothers and those of married mothers. The study considers the implications of using such asset-building initiatives to improve child development.