Essay on Single Fathers and the Obstacles Single Parents Face

Introduction

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I decided to pick this topic since it is personal to me as I was raised by a single father and have seen the obstacles single parents face. There is increased prevalence of single parenthood which is usually brought about by issues such as; divorce, abandonment, being windowed, artificial insemination, having a surrogate and adoption by only one person. Having a child and raising it is an enormous challenge. Almost about 16% of children in the world are raised in a single-parent household. In the year two thousand and six, about thirteen million families in the United States of America were headed by a single parent. When both parents are involved, it is relatively easy since one is assured of emotional support. Parenting is not an easy task, and single parenting is even more challenging since it entails added responsibilities on one person. These challenges are numerous since the single parent has no one to share the day to day responsibilities and decision making. Single parenthood is an immense challenge since one has to deal with the situation of losing a partner as well as taking up new responsibilities. In this paper, I will highlight in depth about the day to day struggles faced by single fathers in raising their children.

Scheduling and Balancing

Single fathers are flustered with loads of responsibilities since they are the only key players in the family as the only parent. The single father has all the household duties that are normally shared in a two-parent family. Therefore, they are required to juggle all of those many roles through a hectic schedule. These fathers have the responsibility of dealing with the family matters all alone hence they have to plan well and organize themselves to accomplish all the tasks that require their attention. Proper and careful planning is needed to enable these fathers to tackle the overload of tasks and meet their career responsibilities (Dean, 2005). These fathers have to balance work duties and home responsibilities effectively. Sometimes these single parents are caught up with family duties hence neglecting their job roles. This situation causes job problems and can even lead to loss of job hence the family gets into a financial crisis. The workplace is a whole new world of professional responsibilities. Therefore, single fathers need to take care of their children, provide them with all that they require, including their time and at the same time teach them to evolve as a disciplinarian by being a friendly to them is an additional challenge.

In addition to taking care of household chores, the single fathers must be there when their children need them. It is hard to adjust schedules and completely get involved with their childrens school activities like sporting. Missing school events can have adverse effects on the children since they may feel neglected and unloved. The parenting skills; understanding and patience are continuously put to the test, and it is usually a huge challenge to instill discipline in their kids while they have to spend most of their hours outdoors. They should make sure that the children do not feel ignored or isolated. To provide for the children, single fathers need to work extra hard as to be able to support them. A single father is supposed to take care of the children, provide for them and also teach them hence balancing professional responsibilities and parenting becomes a challenge.

Financial problems

Financial stability is an important factor in parenting. Finances encompass housing, food, daycare needs, schooling, medical assistance, gifts, and rewards. Child support payments, single income, unexpected expenses and job issues lead to financial constraints. The two-parent families double their incomes when both parents work. This is not the case for a single father hence having sufficient money to pay bills and provide food becomes a constant struggle. The article financial problems for single parents by Cynthia Gomez states that single parents should be able to work two jobs or else they would struggle financially hence forcing them to rely on the government for help in order to meet their financial obligations. The financial problem is the most common and the hardest challenge that faces single fathers especially those with limited sources of income. One cannot be a stay at home father since there is need to think of the expenditures and the financial requirements of the family. Hence they cannot spend all their time for rearing the child even if they believe that staying with the children throughout their growing up years is important. The challenge amplifies if they are not very well off (Crouter & Booth, 2014). It is a tough job to plan their total expenditures and yet have savings via a single paycheck. Single fathers also are faced with financial struggles due to the unexpected expenses like hospital bills.

Mechanisms to budget for the money and the available resources should be put in place. One should know when their paycheck and or other income will arrive. Single fathers need to create a budget and record expenditures to reduce wastage and conserve the available resources. These single parents should develop a support network by knowing who they can depend on. The immediate family and friends can be considered for offering financial support. Prioritization should be done whereby only the important matters are addressed to conserve the limited available resources. The financial constraint is a huge challenge since most fathers are not used to budget for the families. The role well played by women.

Finding a child care support

Parents need to go to work. Therefore, single fathers have the responsibility of making adequate arrangements for finding good child care provider. The person to be given the responsibility of taking care of the children should be reliable and competent individual favorably with experience and good conduct. Single fathers find it hard to find such a person especially in situations where there are no proper support mechanisms from the extended family. Children should be taken care of by an adult with confirmed experience in child care (Bornstein & Bradley, 2014). The best way to make sure the children are getting good care is to visit the children care center or watch the care providers when they are dealing with the children. This is usually a challenge to the sole parent since they may not have the time to monitor the child support due to the increasing responsibilities and duties both at work and at home. Lack of proper scrutiny of the child care support can have adverse consequences which include indiscipline of the child, ill-treatment, and negligence.

Conclusion

Being a single father has numerous challenges as discussed above ranging from scheduling, balancing, financial problems and the stress of finding the proper child care support as discussed above. These problems can be tackled through getting a hold on the finances, often talking with the children, finding support, finding good child care support and keeping a daily routine. However, as the children grow up, these difficulties fade away with the decrease of certain responsibilities since the children help in some chores and responsibilities when they grow up hence reducing the workload. The children can provide emotional support that a single father so desperately craves.

References

Bornstein, M. H., & Bradley, R. H. (Eds.). (2014). Socioeconomic status, parenting, and child development. Routledge.

Crouter, A. C., & Booth, A. (Eds.). (2014). Work-family challenges for low-income parents and their children. Routledge.

Dean, H. (2005). Work-Family Challenges for Low-Income Parents and Their Children.

References

Bornstein, M. H., & Bradley, R. H. (Eds.). (2014). Socioeconomic status, parenting, and child development. Routledge.

Crouter, A. C., & Booth, A. (Eds.). (2014). Work-family challenges for low-income parents and their children. Routledge.

Dean, H. (2005). Work-Family Challenges for Low-Income Parents and Their Children.