The single-parent family consists of one parent and one or more children. This family can come about by divorce, death, separation or one parent running away from the responsibilities of parenthood. It is recognized that most single-parent families are families with women being the head, the primary breadwinner.
A single- parent is faced with the responsibility of managing and paying all bills and other expenses alone, along with dealing with all other aspects of the household chores. The responsibility of having to juggle a job/jobs and taking care of the household necessities is one that weighs heavily on the mind of the single- parent. Undoubtedly single- parent families have been labeled as failing family by the society.
It doesn’t matter how the single-parent family comes about because all of the causes have devastating effects on a child. No matter how much the parent tries he/she can’t do the job of both mother and father. Also the parent may be forced to work too late and the child might be home alone and feeling abandoned. He may feel that his parent had become a total stranger and that he would be better off living alone.
On the other hand, many truly successful people that come from a single- parent family can testify that they were well loved and cared for while living with their parent. In some single- parent families there is a special bond between parent and child, this bond can’t be broken and may prove to be helpful at some point in time. The parent and child would be able to talk to each other about almost everything so that when one is feeling heavy burdened, all he has to do is talk about it with the other.
Another family type in our society is the Extended Family. It may include parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
Being in this type of family may mean lots of love. There will always be someone there to talk to about life’s many problems or to help with home- work. With the grandparents living there with the younger generation, they can help to train the children in a way that is pleasing in the sight of God. Even if it means using some good old fashioned discipline. There will always be someone at home waiting for the children to come home from their school.
In the Bahamian society today there is also the Common- law family, where the man and woman live together with child/ children but are not married.
In many cases this family type is similar to the Nuclear family with the exception of a marriage ceremony. Fortunately children born in this type of family have the advantage of having both parents present. Unfortunately this type of family can prove to have a bad influence upon the children. Not only are they witnessing the disobedience of their parents towards God, but they may also be tempted to follow their parent’s example. They may justify this temptation by saying that their parents lived in such a lifestyle.
A family where there is a husband and wife with a child is known as the Nuclear family. This family type is looked upon as being an ideal Christian family, one that should be a model for all other family types.
In past times the man of the family was responsible for bringing home the bread, so to speak, while the woman was expected to remain a stay-at-home mom. Now however this family is no longer divided economically.
According to my most reliable source the Holt Health, the Nuclear family goes through the following stages:
The beginning stage, which is the establishment of the household by the newlyweds. Having been just married the couple now have to adjust to each other while planning their future together.
The parenting stage this is the stage where the couple is now faced with the responsibilies of taking care of the ever present needs and wants of a child. This stage lasts until the youngest child leaves home to live on his own.
Naturally the Empty nest stage is next. As you may have guessed this is the stage where all the children are now living on their own. Most parents become very emotional at this point while still getting use to the idea that their offspring are no longer living with them.
Next comes the retirement stage, the stage where the couple has adjusted to the changes that come along with retiring from their jobs and their work force.
A Blended family is a family where there is a parent, stepparent, children and/or stepchildren. In this type of family the major conflict is between the children. They may become angry at having to leave the house they grew up in, to live somewhere else. They may feel that by their parent’s marriage they may forget about their natural mom or dad. They may also then take their frustration out on their parent and step- parent by being rebellious.
Everyone is a part of a certain type of family whether it is nuclear, extended, common-law, single- parent or blended. No matter what family type you are a part of there remains the family concept of trust, respect, consideration and love for each other. These are the most basic things that hold a family together, but as you have seen every family no matter what type can have both negative and positive impacts upon the society in general and its members.
