Common Reasons For Single Parenting

However, the reasons for single parenting are not as narrow as you may think. Here are two common reasons why people involuntarily become or choose to become a single parent.

Single Parenting Reason #1 - Divorce

Divorce is probably the number one reason why someone becomes a single parent and delves into the waters of single parenting. It is said that the number one cause of divorce in the United States is a no fault divorce or irreconcilable differences. What this basically means is that the two parents could not get along, were not compatible, or just simply did not want to be married anymore. While this may sound like an “easy way out,” rest assured that almost everyone who goes through a divorce (especially when children are involved), think long and hard about it. It is a very difficult decision to make, and knowing that the children will no longer be the same is a huge factor in deciding to divorce and become a single parent.

However, divorce is probably the “easiest” single parenting to do. Instead of being completely alone, you will most likely have child support and possibly alimony. You also still have the other parent in the child’s life and you can begin a new stage of co-parenting instead of just single parenting.

Single Parenting Reason #2 - Never Married

Not being married is another common reason why someone would be practicing single parenting. Women who become pregnant outside of marriage no longer have the social stigma to marry the man who impregnated them. Instead, many women chose to have their baby without the help of a husband. In fact, many women who were never married are single parents without the aid of the father at all. This could be for many reasons, including that the father wanted no part in the child’s life and that the mother made the decision, based on the father’s lifestyle, simply not to tell the father that she was pregnant. This presents probably some of the hardest single parenting obstacles. The child’s father is not there to provide financial or emotional support and in this case, the mother ends up doing everything with only the help of family and possibly government programs.