Stat of the Day:
30% of Millennial parents say report being a single parent (YPulse)
What It Means:
As Gen Z and Millennials get older and start families of their own, their views on parenting and attempts at navigating family matters are coming into sharper focus. With this comes the shifting of cultural norms, whether intentional or not. One aspect of this is visible in the rising tide of Millennial parents who report they are single. Additionally, the number of children born to unwed mothers has also increased in recent decades. In fact, a Pew study found that, “the share of babies born to unmarried mothers increased eight-fold from 1960-2006.” Thus, there is an increasing trend of babies being born to single parents and a separate, but equally important, increase in the number of parents who are single because of divorce, separation, or, less commonly, widowhood. This shift has important economic and cultural effects, as children born to single parents “tend to be disadvantaged at systemic and individual levels relative to two-parent families” (Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology). Though this study does not attribute causality (low socioeconomic status already being associated with both single motherhood and negative parenting behaviors that affect psychological development), the literature is clear that two-parent families often have better psychological and socioeconomic outcomes for children.
With this in mind, the increasing trends of single parenthood among young people is alarming, at least on the sociological level. The causal factors are hard to pin down, with commentators of varying political perspectives attributing them to all sorts of trends. These include: lowered religiosity, more permissive sexual norms, mass incarceration (especially of black men), and greater economic opportunities for women. Regardless of the causes of increased single parenthood among young people, the reality of such a large grouping of single parents is something our society will be grappling with for decades to come.
Why It Matters:
Most young parents agree that “you don’t have to be married to have a family with someone," and yet 84% of unmarried parents would like to get married. Thus, even though there is a large cohort of young, single parents, many of them wish it were otherwise.
As young people start families of their own, many are coming to realize that domestic tasks and the demands of a career are better shared than assumed alone. Despite their openness to having families without marriage, therefore, many young people recognize the strengths of a committed partnership even if they have not yet been able to find the partner that works for them.
Questions for Further Reflection:
What are some ways the church can better connect with and support single parents? Are there public policies or programs that would benefit these families that the church can sponsor or advocate for, or are there ways the church can create such programs itself? Perhaps both of these options are possible. While religion increasingly becomes “a luxury good,” how can the church remain connected to the less fortunate in our midst and support them, even and especially when they do not seek out our communities? What role can the church play in alleviating social problems that disproportionately impact those who are less likely to join our communities?