This study investigated the impact of informal support systems on the well being of low income single parents. Sixty-three female subjects residing in a rural county in eastern Washington and living below 125% of the nationally established poverty level were interviewed. Correlations and stepwise multiple regressions were run between measures of support and measures of well being. Results showed total informal support had a positive impact on general well being. Various types or sources of support were found to have differing impacts on well being. Implications for family professionals working with low income single parent families are discussed.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/584290.pdf

Meeting the Needs of the Single Parent Family.

The Impact of Informal Support Systems on the Well Being of Low Income Single Parents.

Any review of the literature on variant, nontraditional, or alternative family forms must begin with a discussion of the meaning of these terms. Variant suggests variation on the norm, but what is the norm? The ideal to which most aspire or the manner in which most persons actually live? To define nontraditional, one must first determine what is traditional, recognizing that traditions change. What period of time shall be held as the tradition for the present? Even the word alternative creates problems; some authors reserve the word for those instances when the lifestyle is chosen freely as a result of ideology and personal preference, using alternate when the lifestyle develops out of necessity or personal circumstance (e.g., Cazenave, 1980).

Nontraditional Family Forms

With the increase in the number of single-parent families in recent years, the attention paid to this family form has grown considerably—in both the academic and the public media. This increased concern with single-parent families has, however, often manifested itself as a concern about a growing “problem,” a problem that may threaten the American family.

Single-Parent Families

TRANSFORMING MOTHERHOOD: SINGLE PARENTS’ LIBERATION IN THE 1970s by ELIZABETH RYAN December 2015 Advisor: Dr. Elizabeth Faue Major: History Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Transforming Motherhood examines the experiences of single mothers from the early 1970s until the mid-1980s. Because most accounts of single motherhood in these decades focused on single motherhood as the cause of social problems, most of the discourse about single motherhood is framed on the premise that single mothers are bad. The result of this assumption is to negate the single mother experience and uphold policies which try to limit single motherhood altogether. Transforming Motherhood seeks to redefine the problem of single motherhood by focusing on the issues from the perspective of single mothers. When single motherhood is examined through this lens, one finds that the underlying problems of lack of housing, inadequate child-care, gender inequality in the labor force and income, and inefficient welfare support are the actual causes of social problems associated with single motherhood. Furthermore, Transforming Motherhood questions the gendered notions of motherhood by studying single fatherhood in the same era, finding that single fathers who performed primary caregiver functions had much in common with their female counterparts. Single mothers in the 1970s were the pioneers of twenty-first century parenthood, facing the challenges which most parents, married or unmarried, experience today.

/pdf/transforming-motherhood-single-parents-liberation-in-the-1ez0q0mu5l.pdf

Meeting the Needs of the Single Parent Family.

Citations

The Impact of Informal Support Systems on the Well Being of Low Income Single Parents.

Nontraditional Family Forms

Single-Parent Families

Transforming Motherhood: Single Parents' Liberation In The 1970s

The Contributions of an Organization of Single Parents to the Well-Being of Its Members

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Single-Father Families: Implications for Early Childhood Educators.

A family systems approach to parent education : an integration of the structural family model and parent education.

Role Transitions: A Review of the Literature.

Going It Alone

On Being a Parent.