A groundbreaking collection of writings on the growing phenomenon of single-parent families in the United States, and how it impacts society as a whole.Focus on Single-Parent Families: Past, Present, and Future brings together in one volume a range of cutting-edge research articles and essays on what has become the most dynamic change in family structure in U.S. history. It is the only resource to make the most insightful and important work being done on the single-parent family phenomena accessible to general readers.Focus on Single-Parent Families helps readers go beyond the stereotypes and look closely at the complexity of families with one parent and consider their place in society. It encompasses the wide variety of households with a single parent-a family structure that promises to continue to grow and diversify. Throughout, the book gauges the impact of the increasing number of single-parent families on the nation as a whole, particularly in regard to policies concerning family welfare, children's services and health care, schools, and other essential social institutions.

Offers a complete index

PrefaceAcknowledgmentsPart One: Historical Trends in Family Life and Structure1. What's Happening to the Family: Demographic and Institutional ChangesLarry L. BumpassPart Two: Social Diversity and Single-Parent Families2. Poverty, Welfare, and Livelihood Strategies of Nonmetropolitan Single MothersJ. Brian Brown and Daniel T. Lichter3. The Single-Father Family: Demographic, Economic, and Public Transfer Use CharacteristicsBrett V. Brown4. Children Raised in Fatherless Families from Infancy: A Follow-Up of Children of Lesbian and Single Heterosexual Mothers at Early AdolescenceFiona MacCallum and Susan Golombok5. Family Structure and Children's Success: A Comparison of Widowed and Divorced Single-Mother FamiliesTimothy J. Biblarz and Greg Gottainer6. Influences on Delinquency: The Role of the Single-Parent FamilyAmy L. Anderson7. Parental Incarceration: Implications of Child WelfareElizabeth I. Johnson and Jane Waldfogel8. Grandmothers Raising GrandchildrenCatherine Goodman and Merril SilversteinPart Three: Single-Parent Families: The Lived Experience9. Expenditures on Children and Financial DifficultiesMark Lino10. The Psychological Well-Being of Single ParentsAnna-Marie Cunningham and Chris Knoester11. Single Parenthood and the LawLynda H. Walters and Carla Abshire12. The Impact of Parents' Marital Status on the Time Adolescents Spend in Productive ActivitiesCathleen Zick and Corrine Allen13. The Effects of Neighborhood and Mother-Teen Relationships on Adolescent Sexual ActivityH. Harrington Cleveland and Michael Gilson14. Religious Involvement as a Source of Support?Ann Sorenson, Carl F. Grindstaff, and R. Jay TurnerPart Four: Social Problems and Policy15. Rethinking the "Pathology of Matriarchy": Family Structure, Educational Attainment, and Socioeconomic SuccessTimothy J. Biblarz and Adrian E. Raftery16. Child Care Policy Reform and Employment of Single MothersJay Bainbridge, Marcia K. Meyers, and Jane Waldfogel17. Explaining Trends in Child Support: Economic, Demographic, and Policy EffectsAnne C. Case, I-Fen Lin, and Sara S. McLanahan18. Effective Child Support Policy for Low-Income Single ParentsMaureen R. Waller and Robert PlotnickIndex