How society views single parents is a curious question. There is an implication in the title that single parents let society down. That their children cause problems and create difficult situations which if they had both parents present would not happen. Perhaps society should look at the children with two parents who are not given time or space and have to fend for themselves emotionally. The shooting events which happen in schools seem to be caused by children who have both parents but no one had any idea of what they are doing most of the time. 

The reasons that someone is raising their children alone are various. Among the many causes are death. This might be caused by a traffic accident, something that happened at work or an inadvertent action which caused the death. There are numerous spouses left alone through war. This might be the result of a battle for a soldier, a bomb, a terrorist attack like 9/11, or a plane crash. Service wives also spend a lot of time raising their children alone even though they are not single. Then there are those parents who die through illness. 

Another cause might be divorce. No one knows what goes on in someone else’s marriage and, therefore, is in no position to make judgements when this happens. Someone might have got out of a bad marriage where they were abused and perhaps their children also. In which case they did a wise thing. They might have been the innocent party and left by their spouse. Not everyone is able to shoulder the responsibility of parenthood and a relationship.

People see what they want to see and believe what they want to believe about others. Often regardless of the facts. It is easy to take an isolated incident and enlarge it negatively and vice versa. 

Because an adult raising their children alone does not fit into the regular pattern of two parents and children, does not mean there should be any criticism of them. Most do a difficult job without a partner’s support. Not everyone can conform to society’s expectations.

Parenting is an extraordinarily difficult job. Parents want the best for their children but are sometimes hampered by expectations from the way they were brought up which might not be the best for their children. Children have very different personalities and individuality from their parents and want to explore their own ideas. This is not even considering the pressure from friends in their environment.

The economic circumstances of a single parent can make life particularly difficult. Women are paid less then men, men are expected to have unbroken careers. As a single parent either will need to take time off to deal with illness, trips, exams and numerous other things which happen during childhood. This is hard enough when there are two parents.

The point of a good society is helping those who need it. Most single parents manage their lives and children well. When things get difficult society should be able to say ‘we’re here if you need help’.