The single parent status is owned by a person when he or she is bestowed upon the responsibility to bring up child or children of his or her own, without any support from another person. There are many reasons like divorce, extramarital or premarital conceiving of child, or death or abandonment by one parent, adoption or artificial insemination for which this single parent status is obtained.

In US, single parenting is quite evident because of increased rate of non marital childbearing and divorces since 1960s. As per source, there were about 31% children with single parents in 2002, which was 23% in 1980s. The main factors or issues associated with single parenting in US are age of the parent, his or her educational qualification, economic condition, the time devoted to the child and occasionally the network of a support group like friends, colleagues, neighbors etc. in case of an emergency. There requires a contribution and a perfect balance among all the positive sides of the above mentioned factors for a successful single parenting. The other way round may cause a lot of problem to the single parent as well as the child. As like most of the problems in modern day world, the problems associated with single parents also lead to a singular common consequence, which isstress.

Not standing by the promises you made, not being able to fulfill the expectations of your child, irregularities in diet and lifestyle, anomalies in finances, pressure at workplace, many external factors and to add to the owe are the periodic hormonal fluctuations (more prominent in case of females) all add to  a stressful existence of the single parent.

There are many ways to handle single parent stress. Here are a few of them. You can schedule your duties and responsibilities beforehand, and try to follow them accurately.  You should understand that there are a large number of things which happed without your control like arriving a bus late, a traffic jam or an unexpected downpour; in such conditions the best thing is to stay calm and use your brains to find a way out. Often a bunch of friends, another single parent in the neighborhood who are willing to help you, can be very useful at times. You can get parenting tips and counseling from them. A family physician is a must. If you are not being able to handle the workplace pressure, switch to another job; it may sound a bit erratic, but in times it becomes necessary. Keep your self updated with the progress of your child at school and home; converse with his or her teacher frequently. Allow him to engage himself in creative and co-curricular activities which will help him to socialize and learn a lot of things. At the same time, taking care of oneself is very important. When you are stressed, it is better to go for natural remedies like yoga, aerobics, aroma therapy etc. than medicinal drugs, prescribed or non prescribed. Resort to hobbies and socializing a lot, so that you don’t get monotonous with life.