Summary Of Robin W. Simon's Bundle Of Trouble

Demographically, over 90% of the participants strongly agreed that fatherhood is crucial in our society. A little over 47% of fathers, that encouragement from the mothers of their children matters because of the obstacles they faced with finance, and their duties on the job. The final results of marital status statistics is over 80% married fathers, nine percent divorced, and six percent never married. One surprising statistic was 90% cohabitate with the mother and focal child (Glenn & Popenoe, 2006).

One thing that almost everybody will have to deal with at least once in their lifetime is parenting. In parenting, both parents are needed to make the job easier on themselves, their marriage and their child. In the essay The Myth of Co-Parenting: How It Was Supposed to Be. How It Was. by Hope Edelman, Edelman tells her experience with co-parenting. Edelman, along with many women, initially believed that co-parenting was possible. She soon figured out, however, that it was not a realistic goal. Some points that Edelman hits in the essay are the gender roles and societal expectations in parenting, being the nurturer versus being the provider, and how poor communication can ruin

The young woman has just found out she is pregnant and is glowing with excitement. Will the baby look like her or the father? Will the baby grow up to be a world-famous leader or a rocket scientist? Then, reality hits. This little person is going to need stuff. Lots of stuff. Food, clothes, diapers, wipes, shelter, college tuition…., the list goes on and on. For this post, I will be discussing the family development and life cycle theory, task 2: financing childbearing and childrearing.

Having children, whether planned or not, produces additional expenses for a family that some may not be prepared for. While parents don’t immediately think about long term cost when raising a child, it is shown that raising a child in American from birth to age 17, is over $241,080, and this number is expected to increase every year Covert, 2013). It is estimated that over 15 million children are living in poverty in the United States. These families encounter an imbalance in their education, health care, and socioeconomic resources (Milteer, Ginsburg, & Mulligan, 2012). These low income families must focus on their daily survival and this creates an economic hardship. Milteer et al., (2012) shows that

This is just one example of how economic income can in no way, actually define or predict how well someone will parent. “That’s because our socioeconomic statuses don’t actually define us: As people, as communities, as parents”

One of these is financial problems. “In 2002, twice as many single-parent families earned less than $30,000 per year compared to families with two parents present. At the opposite end of the spectrum, 39 percent of two-parent families earned more than $75,000 compared to 6 percent of single-mother families and 11 percent of single-father families” (Davidson).

Through the use of personal anecdotes, McKibben argues that adults today should not be pressured to have a large family or create the stigma of an only child being a spoiled brat. He begins his essay with a trip to the doctor's office in which he is thrown an abundance of questions about the circumstances of having more children, for example, “Would more children be in your picture now if your financial circumstances improved significantly?” (119). By the use of these various personal anecdotes, this supports his argument of plausible reasons why adults decide not to have children and why it is better to have a few. Adults in the 21st century are just too busy, are career focused, or are simply not ready to take that route. He emphasizes that

Parenting involves a lot more than just fathering or mothering a child. Often times, genetics don’t play a role in parenting at all anymore. Someone who parents is merely a person who takes on the responsibility of raising a child from a young age to adulthood. This can be through birth, adoption or foster care. Due to the large scale shift in society and offspring over time, I will be using the term “caregiver” to signify any person who consistently cares for a child throughout the rest of this paper. Regardless of the title used, each person ultimately performs the same duties involved with parenting and it is no task easily achieved.

However, Blackstone and Stewart (2016) provide lucidity through comprehensive considerations of previous research, which examined the process by which individuals decide to have children, with the intent to provide insight into many individuals’ decision to remain childfree. Furthermore, Blackstone and Stewart (2016) continued to identify insufficiencies in prior research throughout their article, as they recognized that many former researchers primarily focused on women’s experiences rather than men’s and typically explored why couples’ have chosen to remain childfree rather than how they have reached their decision to remain childfree (Agrillo & Nelini, 2008; Clausen, 2002; Gillespie, 2003; Houseknecht, 1982; Letherby, 2002; Edin & Kefalas, 2011; Hertz, 2006; Mollen, 2006; Mueller & Yoder, 1999; Park, 2005; Settle & Brumley, 2014; Lunneborg,

As a 20th century phenomenon the post-parental phase of development, also known as the empty nest period, has been commonly used to describe a specific phase of the adult life cycle that occurs when children leave home for the first time. Within the past 40 years it has represented a key developmental and unbearable stage in parents’ lives. For some parents, often mid-life mothers who are the primary caregivers, the end of formal childbearing can be a traumatic stage of life, during which they are forced to cope with many life transitions. Since motherhood is considered to be a primary family role, “the advent of the empty nest places them in a transitional period, at risk for another mysterious occurrence,”

The number of Americans having fewer children is increasing, and the number of Americans that want one or no children has nearly doubled over the last decade. The two and two thirds child family is being phased out, and a new traditional family is emerging. Less children are being born, and there are more families with a single child, or no children at all. These people having fewer children do it for a variety of reasons, from finances to free time to saving the world. Yet no matter their reasons, there are positive effects stemming from this choice. Having fewer children increases happiness, leads to better reared children, and helps to save the world.

It is difficult for a single mother to have one minimum wage job and raise a kid because that one job will not be able to pay all the bills and put food on the table, so single mothers have to get two jobs just to make ends meet. I remember seeing my mom getting ready for her first job at four in the morning. I can tell that it took a toll on her body because she would have bags under her eyes from not getting a complete eight hours of sleep. Sometimes she would

Throughout history a one-parent household has been deemed as a nontraditional family, but in today’s society it seems more and more common with every day. Although the reason and causes vary, each year the number of children raised by a single parent increases. Most people don’t seem to realize how much this can change a child’s future. The impact of childhood experiences simply set the disposition of adulthood and the rest of their lives. There is not one sole factor that affects child development, but one very important one is the role and relationship created with one’s parents. How a child is parented and raised leaves a lasting impression on them, commonly for a

People always think that once you have a kid, it will be all sunshine and daisies. Maybe sometimes it can be like that, but not always. There are joys and challenges with everything in life. Many people have different ways of describing the joys or challenges of taking care of an infant, for example, some people would find that first outing as a joy and some people find it as a challenge. Men and Women both have perspectives with how they raise their children, whether together or as a single parent.

Becoming a father is a life changing experience. Most fathers will remember that one special day for the rest of their lives, while other fathers say the day their child was born was the day their life as they knew it was over. After sitting down and interviewing three different fathers who had three very different experiences before and after child birth my eyes have been opened to the multiple views, experiences, memories, and feelings these three gentlemen have experienced or will soon experience. Mr. Snyder who is currently awaiting the birth of his first child in the spring of 2015 was the first man I interviewed. Mr. Celso is the second man I interviewed. Mr. Celso and his wife experienced a very emotional and nerve wrecking pregnancy and birth of their two 4 month old twins. Lastly, Mr. Shipley was the last man I interviewed. Mr. Shipley is a father of a one year old boy. Mr. Shipley’s experience of the birth of his child was much different then the other two gentlemen given that Mr. Shipley and the mother of his son are not in any type of relationship, nor were they during their child’s birth. Each of these men shared a lot of similarities as well as an abundance of differences regarding their children and soon to be children.