While there is an increasing number of people who have made a decision to become single parents, but most people do not consciously take on the job of parenthood without having a partner. And, although it’s certainly possible for children from single parent homes to grow into well-adjusted successful adults, statistics indicate that children whose parents divorce are at higher risk for developing behavioral and social difficulties.

But the effects of single parenting on children of divorce must be separated from the effects of the divorce itself. If the divorcing parents can be mature enough to conduct themselves in a civil way, they will be sparing their children a great amount of stress. This by itself will help the children be in much better shape when they have to start adapting to life in a single parent household.

And there are many children feeling the effects of single parenting for reasons other than divorce. he death of a spouse, or having parents who are single by choice, can leave children equally vulnerable to the more common effects of single parenting, like stress over financial difficulties, and feelings of being isolated and without emotional support.

A child may either experience these effects of single parenting directly, or pick them up from his or her single parent.

One of the most noticeable effects of single parenting is that children do not get as much of an opportunity to build healthy emotional bonds with a person whom they trust, simply because there is one less person around with whom they can bond. Children need to be able to share their daily struggles and triumphs in a nonjudgmental environment and be reassured that they are unconditionally loved no matter how often they feel like they have failed.

One of the effects of single parenting is that there is no one in the fall back position if the child’s primary caretaker can’t be there during a big moment in the child’s life. In some single parent families, an older child can take on the job of encouraging the younger children, but that child too will need emotional support from the parent.

Single parents, no matter how busy they are with trying to support their children financially, need to find ways to remain emotionally connected to them. Positive communication and encouragement, if only from a note in the lunch box or an “I love you” scribbled on a post-it and left on the refrigerator, can help until the parent and child have time for a real talk.

But the one on one time is the most important, because being heard without being judged will give children confidence that there is one relationship in which they will always be safe.

One other positive effect of single parenting is that children raised in one parent homes have the opportunity to take more responsibility for the entire family’s wellbeing than those with two parents to share the burdens of income earning and family care. Single parents can empower their children by letting them know clearly what is expected of them, and how much their contributions are appreciated.

The effects of single parenting do not only apply to children, they apply to the single parents themselves. By making the most of what time they do share, the members of a single parent family can support and energize each other, and single parents will benefit as much from having good communication and strong emotion bonds with their children as the children themselves.