The study examined dimensions of the family context associated with variations in parent involvement and parent perceptions of children's school achievement using data from 1,085 male and 2,239 female respondents with a child between the ages of 5 and 18 years collected in the 1987-88 National Survey of Families and Households. Small but significant differences in parent perceptions of school achievement were found in favor of children being raised in a first-married two-parent home. Negative effects on school outcomes were centered on children who experienced family disruption. Living in a one-parent household with a parent who was previous married was associated with parent reports of poorer performance for elementary school children and lower grades for adolescents. Neither living in a one-parent household with a continuously single parent nor living in a stepfamily was significantly related to achievement. Parent employment status was not directly related to children's achievement but did have indirect effects through parent involvement both at home and school. Parent involvement at school and in child-centered home activities was associated with perceptions of improved school performance for elementary school children and higher grades for adolescents. Mothers were more likely to be involved in children's schooling than fathers. Single and cohabiting mothers were less involved at school than first-married mothers, but single fathers tended to be more likely to participate than their first-married counterparts. There were no significant differences between the home involvement of single mothers and their first-married counterparts but single fathers were more involved at home than first-married fathers. For both mothers and fathers, receiving tangible aid from a wide network of relatives and friends was associated with higher levels of school and home involvement. Findings suggest that educators who have negative beliefs about single parents' engagement in school-family partnerships may be influenced by these parents' low presence at school. Recognizing that single parents are as involved with their children at home as parents in traditional families can lead to educational practices that support home involvement and result in positive effects on children's academic progress. / Graduation date: 1994

Thesis (M.N.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2005. / Bibliography: leaves 133-146.

One of the most vulnerable groups in Swedish society today is single parent families, a group that has increased over the last thirty years in proportion to married and cohabiting parents. The aims of this thesis are to study inequality and inequity in health and health care utilization with regard to whether parents are single or couple (married/cohabiting), to investigate whether the concept of social capital may provide us with further understanding when analyzing inequality and inequity in health and to investigate how the mental health of single parent children may differ from couple parent children and to what extent this difference may be due to parental socio-economic and socio-demographic characteristics, including social capital. The results from the papers on which this thesis is based indicate that both single mothers and single fathers have poorer health than couple mothers and fathers. Single mothers also refrain from seeking medical care to a greater extent. The financial advantage of single fathers, in comparison with single mothers, might have an impact on their medical care utilization, since they seemingly seek and consume health care to an extent that matches their poorer health. Social capital has as robust an association with self-rated health as any traditional social determinant of health. Four parental characteristics were found to be independently associated with children’s mental health; being a single parent, ‘poor parental health’, limited social support and low levels of social capital. The uneven distribution of all investigated determinants of health, including social capital, gives us reason to conclude that our findings indeed raise concerns about equity. Action taken by society to enable single parents to increase their social capital might improve their and their children’s health. It may also be clearly stated that financial status has a major impact on both health and health care utilization. This particular characteristic is also rather accessible to alteration, for example through financial transfers between groups in society.

The vast majority of housing in the United States today has been created to conform to a family definition that does not match current demographic realities. The "traditional family" - a married couple with an employed husband, a homemaker wife, and several children has been the model family that housing designers have strived to accommodate on a grand scale since at least the mid-1940's. This type of family, however, comprises only 10% of all American families; the remaining 90%, despite being a majority, have had their housing needs ignored. One family group often considered to be non-traditional and often left out of housing considerations is the single parent family. This family type is an established household form in the United States; currently nearly one third of all American families are single parent families, most of which are headed by women. During the past few years housing projects have begun to appear that are designed to house "non-traditional families" such as single parent families. It has been generally assumed that the spatial needs of single parent families are different from those of nuclear families or the "traditional family". This research will focus on the analysis of housing as designed for single parent families in comparison to housing as designed for the American nuclear family. Floor plans of the two housing types were obtained from the following cities: Denver, CO, Hayward, CA, Providence, RI, and Minneapolis, MN. The intent of this study is to examine what, if any, differences occur in the spatial orientation of housing designed for single parent families and housing designed for the nuclear family: the single family detached home. The study examined room layout in relation to use and commonly accepted social function. Two methods of analysis were employed: gamma analysis as developed by Hillier and Hanson and annotated analysis developed specifically for this research. The method of gamma analysis was used to determine if the housing as designed for the two family types is different in form and social function, while the annotated analysis was used to measure the "fit" of the housing for each of the family types. It was originally expected that the single parent family dwellings would exhibit a higher degree of integration than the single family detached homes based on predictions gleaned form the literature. However, the gamma analysis revealed a lower mean relative asymmetry value for the single family detached houses (0.308), indicating a higher degree of integration, than the mean relative asymmetry value for the single parent family dwellings (0.368). This difference was not found to be significant (p = 0.276). The annotated analysis results indicated single family detached houses scored a better fit to their intended family type (mean annotated analysis score = 0.638) than did the single parent family dwellings to their intended family type (mean annotated analysis score = 0.533). Again, this difference was not found to be significant (p = 0.385). The findings of this study provide a glimpse at the interior spatial arrangements of housing as designed for the two family types in question. While the results of the two analysis methods seems to indicate that the interior spatial arrangement of housing is not meeting the needs of either family type, more research should be conducted to further substantiate the findings. These findings will be of interest to designers of homes, housing developers, planners and policy makers, and researchers in the field of housing, all of whom can have an effect on the shape of the housing environment and can help make it more suitable for all family types. / Graduation date: 1991

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Clinical Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

The single-parent family is an established household form in North American and Western European societies, yet today's homes are often built and marketed for the two-earner household. Inadequate and unaffordable housing is a source of daily stress in the lives of single parents. This thesis investigates the problems and concerns of the female single parents described in the literature, and reviews selected examples of single-parent housing projects developed in North America and Europe. A comparison is made with a particular group of female single parents living in the Point St. Charles neighborhood of Montreal. / A review of the difficulties faced by this group is provided, particularly their housing concerns and the types of housing available to them. A brief historical overview of Point St. Charles is given so that the reader may better understand the group of female single parents surveyed. / An analysis of the survey results reveals that although many of the problems and concerns of single parents described in the literature are similar to those identified in the present survey, few generalizations can be made about their housing problems.

The study was aimed at investigating the effects of single parenthood on school going adolescents on a group of male and female children schooling in Gaborone District of Botswana. The research questions focused on investigating the effects of. single parenthood on the social interactions of school-going adolescents, effects on their performance in class, the attitude of the community on such adolescents and whether single parenthood affected boys and girls differently. To start the investigation, a sample of 80 adolescents was randomly selected from a total of 2 000 form 4 and form 5 students. The findings revealed that the majority (91.3%) of school-going adolescents from single parenthood stay with their mothers. The survey findings also revealed that school-going adolescents from single parenthood do not get along with their single parent, single parents are not always around to attend to the needs of their children and they are not always happy at home. The survey findings showed that there are poor child-parent relationships and this adversely affects the children's performance at school. The study revealed that the majority of adolescents from single-parent households have fallen behind in some of their subjects (77.5%), have problems getting their homework done on time (46.3%) , have unsatisfactory school reports and they have failed some the subjects they are doing (78.8%). / (M. Ed.) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2005

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University, 1970. / Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Bernard Mackler. Dissertation Committee: Sheldon R. Roen. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (doctoral)--Göteborgs universitet, 1988. / Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references (p. 191-203).

Thesis (M.S.W.)--University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references.