The relationship between the parents of a working family becomes more delicate and complicated when compared with the traditional family structure. Now that structure is not accepted by an increasing number of educated and professional women. The traditional family unit changed rapidly during the second half of the 20th century due to the effects of two world wars, rapid industrialization, the development of technology, and the effects of the women's liberation movement. As a result the family became small (less children) and the majority of women now can obtain equal opportunities in both education and work.
The role of a family is to struggle to survive, to protect and support children until children become mature and independent adults capable of providing for themselves, and to provide a good standard of living. Moreover, if men and women can not co-operate well to deal with,the decision-making is difficult or does not satisfy both, and then wife and husband may easily have arguments and disagreements. For some of them, these may become a serious communication problem.
Since both men and women have to look after the family, sometimes they will have to put their personal, emotional and physical needs aside. As already mentioned, when men and women feel stressed, then arguments and complaints may hurt the relationship. As a result, the relationship between wife and husband becomes more delicate and complicated than in the former traditional family where the wife remained at home to undertake all the tasks of raising children, cooking and cleaning.
The vast majority of single-parent families are low-income families consisting of a mother and her young children. In fact, the single parent family may often have extreme financial problems following the loss of a spouse to death or divorce. Some investigation shows about fewer than half of the families who are owed child support receive their support payments on time and in full. In addition, the biggest challenge single parents face is their own preconceived idea that they need to make up for the absence of the other parent.
“A lot of single mothers put pressure on themselves to be perfect, and they deal with a lot of guilt for not being able to do everything. There’s no such thing as a perfect parent, so why set yourself up for failure? You just have to do the best you can.” says Solange Ribeiro, a licensed professional counselor in Homewood who works with individuals and families and specializes in parenting.
“The hardest thing for me is loneliness,” single mom Debbie says. “Right now, I have my children to keep me busy, but when they grow up and leave, I will still be alone. The loneliness doesn’t go away.”
However, a single parent of family often faces much more challenges than double parents of family. As each single parent faces, especially single mother, their own unique challenges, each has their own source of strength and support to make life not only manageable, but also rewarding for them and their children.
Furthermore, in situations where there is no other parent to turn to, however, single parents have no choice but to make every decision and take responsibility for every task themselves. As great as any physical, financial or child-rearing need, single parents must also deal with their own emotional needs. And these are sometimes left unfulfilled in the daily grind of single parenthood.
In conclusion, raising a family presents many challenges: rushing to meet the demands of jobs, children and spouse; dealing with a variety of problems, no matter if you are a single or married parent; trying to accommodate personal needs. It is important for that parents who have children and work outside the home to make sure they communicate with each other and acknowledge each other's needs, consider carefully their mutual responsibilities, and if faced with the breakdown of their marriage, work to maintain a parental relationship which assists their children to realize that each parent cares for them and remains concerned about their emotional and maturing needs.