A single parent is a person who has a child or children but does not have a spouse or live-in partner sharing the household to help with the child's upbringing or support. People become single parents for many reasons, including annulment, the death of a partner, divorce, relationship breakup, abandonment, domestic violence, rape, childbirth by a single person, or single-person adoption. A single-parent family is a family with children headed by one such single parent rather than by a couple.
Facts
Descent RuleSourced to the subject's own accountNot a descent rule: a single-parent family is a household structure headed by one parent without a spouse or live-in partner, defined by household composition rather than by any rule of lineage or descent-group membership. 1 Typical RegionSourced to the subject's own accountDocumented worldwide; among OECD countries in 2011 the proportion of single-parent households ranged from 3 to 11 percent, averaging 7.5 percent, highest in Australia, Canada, Mexico, the United States, Lithuania, Costa Rica, Latvia and New Zealand. 1 Typical RegionSourced to the subject's own accountIn the United States specifically, the 2010 census found that 27 percent of children were living with one parent, and 40.7 percent of births that year were to unmarried women. 1 Connections
Associated With
The single-parent family is commonly defined and studied in contrast to the two-parent nuclear family, from which it departs by the absence of one parent from the household.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Single-Parent Family
WikipediaLead paragraph, opening definition
A single parent family is a family with children that is headed by a single parent.
Demographics, Households section
Among all households in OECD countries in 2011, the proportion of single-parent households was in 3-11% the range, with an average of 7.5%.
Lead paragraph, reasons for single parenthood
Reasons for becoming a single parent can include annulment, death, divorce, break-up, abandonment, domestic violence, rape, childbirth by a single person or single-person adoption.
United States, Demographics section
The results of the 2010 United States census showed that 27% of children live with one parent.
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