ABSTRACT
This chapter explores what it means to be a single parent in the United States. It describes the changing incidence of single parenthood over the last half century, and the many types of single parenting situations. The proportion of children living in single-parent families has increased markedly around the world since 1970, and this increase has been especially significant in the United States. Wide-scale public alarm concerning single parenthood was raised in 1965 with Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s report, “The Negro Family: The Case for National Action.” As US Assistant Secretary of Labor in President Johnson’s War on Poverty, Moynihan hoped that his report would serve to stimulate more successful federal programs designed to create economic and social equality for African American families living in poverty. Researchers have provided detailed information about the effects of being born into a family with a nonmarried parent.
