Impact of Divorce, single parenting, and step parenting on children;

Nearly 60% of America’s youth will be spent in a single parent family
It was also found that family structure significantly correlated with academic attainment, with two-parent offspring having a significantly higher GPA than single parent offspring
The single parent household has become an increasingly more common family form (Sabatelli, 2000). The U.S. Bureau of Census reported in 2001 that there are now over 12 million single parent households, approximately 10 million of which are maintained by mothers. that even though many divorced single parents are likely to remarry, over half of the children born in the 1990s will spend at least some or all of their childhood in a single-parent household.
Despite the increase in the number of single parents in the United States, the negative stigma associated with single parents and children of single parents continues
“In contrast to the stereotyped view of single-parent households as inherently deficient, most single parents provide the structure, values, and nurturance that their children need despite the challenges and criticisms they encounter from society. Their homes are not broken, their lives are not miserable, and their children may have problems, but most eventually thrive” (as cited in Walsh, 2003, p. 123).
In fact, Walsh (2003) purports that the number of single parents continues to grow across all socioeconomic groups, with the greatest increase among affluent and educated. Walsh (2003) reminds us that family form has been confused with family substance: Family processes and community connections that strengthen the quality of relationships are crucial for parents and their children to thrive.
It seems that many in the field agree that if single parents have the community support and financial resources, their children’s life outcomes are just as favorable as those in two-parent families (Walsh, 2003).

Susan Pollet, counselor director of the NYS parent ed at office of court
Another
way to look at it is that as of the year 2000, about one third of the births in the U.S. were to