body-container-line-1

The Single Mother’s Dilemma

Feature Article The Single Mothers Dilemma
MAY 10, 2020 LISTEN

As the world celebrates mother’s day, I just cast mind upon of all those single parents within our communities; their struggles and challenges. Statistically, men die earlier than women, which translates that all things being held constant, there would a huge number of single mothers than there would be single parenting fathers. Also, given the fact that in most cases of teenage pregnancy, the girl is unable to pinpoint the person responsible for the pregnancy or the men shirks of their responsibilities, it exacerbates the prevalence of single mothers. Additionally, the surge in divorce and separation rates can be attributed to the increasing prevalence of single parenting in general.

Parenting is not an easy task and for that matter, not having a full complement of support can be really overwhelming. Particularly, when children get to their adolescence, it becomes a huge challenge for single mothers. You are forced to maintain a balance between daily hustle and the socialization and upbringing of your child. Being a single parent implies playing a dual role as a father and mother simultaneously. This can be very tedious and if patients and tenacity is not applied, the child can go wayward and become a liability. This situation puts such parents at risks of some mental health conditions including depression, anxiety and chronic stress.

As this is not enough, such persons are met with stigmatization from their families and the general society, particularly, when the birth of the child was as a result of wedlock or unplanned pregnancies. Hence, in the Ghanaian community, you may hear terms like “born one” which is used to describe single mothers who cannot identify the father of their child. Such stigmatization can even result in repeat pregnancy (a situation where the woman will have another unplanned pregnancy).

As we celebrate mother’s day, I want to dedicate this day to all the single parents out there who are playing the role of mothers in all spheres of their child’s life. It is not an easy job. However, accepting the situation of being a single parent combined with proper planning and support from the family and society will go a long way to provide some social cushion to their challenges. Various religious bodies must use their media to encourage single parents and teach their congregations from refraining from stigmatizing and discriminatory remarks.

Happy mother’s day to all mothers. Your special work is highly recognized.

body-container-line