Does Race And Ethnicity Determine The Future For Children Of Single Parent Homes?

Dear Sticky Wicket,
What are the positive/negative outcomes of children growing up in single parent homes? Does race and ethnicity determine whether they go to college or join gangs?

~Single Mom From Chicago

Dear Single Mom,
In 2010, approximately 24,297,000 children lived in single parent homes according to Kids Count Data Center statistics. Of those numbers 66 percent were African-American, 52 percent American Indian, 41 percent Hispanic or Latino, 24 percent non-Hispanic white and 16 percent Asian or Pacific Islander.

Single Parent magazine says single parent homes headed by fathers are the fastest growing type of family situation. Over the past 10 years, the demographic grew by 60 percent.

However, those numbers constantly change. Single parent homes continue to grow and morph more quickly than statisticians can keep up says April Masini, relationship advice expert and creator of the critically acclaimed and popular AsApril.com website.

“Defining a single parent home is now more difficult than ever as custody schedules include parents, step-parents, grandparents, legal custodians who aren’t related, and parents who never married who are defined as single parents on queries, but in reality, live as married with children,” she says.

Masini adds that the good news is that two of our most recent United State presidents, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama both came from single family homes. So being raised by a single parent or being a child of divorce is not a precursor for failure.

“The children who meet those challenges tend to actually do better in life than those who are more used to cushy situations,” Masini says. “Challenge becomes a norm for many kids from single parent homes and they begin to not see it as a challenge and roll with the punches a lot more easily than those who are stopped by every turn in the road that is life.”