The duties of parenting are arduous and difficult. There may not be any other responsibility that requires as much time, patience, learning, sacrifice, and other such as parenting does. Having a spouse or partner to assist in the upbringing of children certainly eases the weight of parenting. For example, the Simpson children had Marge and Homer, the Bundy kids had Peg and Al, the Adams family had Morticia and Gomez, and finally the Brady children had Carol and Thomas. The one thing that these households share in common is the fact that they are by definition a nuclear family. Nuclear families have two parents and children; with mother and father being prime caretakers of their children. In this family model, both parents provide each other with the emotional, physical, and monetary support to assist in rearing their children. However, what about the 28% percent of families that are raised with a single parent? (Cole 433) What are the effects on children being raised in single parent homes? How do these single parents address the task of playing the dual role of both mother and father? Single parents must bear the stressors of raising children independently without the loving support of another. Therefore, the hardships of parenting are placed on a single entity which may result in psychological effects on the single parent and of their children. .
The role of a single parent may emerge from a divorce, a death of the co-parent, the absence of a co-parent after conception, or long extended periods of separation from the co-parent. With no co-parent present in the family the single parent must be the wage earner, the father, the mother, the disciplinarian, and the confidant all at the same time. According to the book "The Development of Children," the cost associated with raising a child in 1999 from birth to the age of 17 was $157,000. Without the financial aid of another parent, the burden of fiscally supporting the entire family falls on the single parent.