singleparentwealth.com

I just came across a blog written by a financial expert by the name of Danielle Hoston.

Ms. Hoston just began a series called, ‘A Mom’s Guide to Wealth’.  I enjoyed reading part one of her five-part series.

She quoted Joseph Campbell, who said;
“We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”

I think that is a quote that speaks to many single parents who are trying to move forward and prosper.

You can read her full article here at A Mom’s Guide to Wealth.

According to University of Kansas Medical Center:

The year 2000 census from the US Census Bureau (March Current Population Survey for the Nation, March, 2000) indicates that 61% of all children are living with a single parent. The number of two parent families has decreased from 87% in 1970 to 69% in 2000. These trends indicate that divorce and single-parent families have become a way of life in our society.

Many parents who divorce believe they have done irreversible damage to their children because of the parents permanent separation. However, many of the problems children experience following parental divorce are not due merely to separation from one parent. Recent research indicates that children’s adjustment following parental divorce is dependent, to a large extent, on the situation existing after the divorce. Fortunately, parents often have control over many of the post-divorce factors that affect child adjustment. Listed below are recommendations to divorced/divorcing parents that should help minimize the negative effects of divorce on children.

Check out the recommendations here.

I read an article today about Nebraska’s Safe Haven Laws.  For those of you who don’t know (like me before this article) a Safe Haven Law protects a parent from prosecution if they abandon their child in one of these designated places, such as a hospital ER, or a fire station.

I live in Texas and I knew that you could safely leave a newborn at a hospital or fire station and they wouldn’t ask any questions.  I personally think that it is a good thing.

Apparently in Nebraska they recently passed a similar law only they didn’t state an age limit.  And since that time parents have been dropping kids off who are much older than newborn.  The article states that many of the ‘drop off’ parents are single parents.  It angered me at first when I read this comment, but the truth is, IT IS VERY HARD to raise children as a single parent.

The sad fact is, society and the government don’t do enough to support single parents.  Hopefully this will change in the near future as the realization that almost 20% of all first marriages end in divorce.  And the percentage increases with each additional marriage.

After reading this article, I don’t know what the best answer is…

The Abandoned Children of Nebraska - TIME