Single Parent homes

When we were discussing single parent homes in class it really made me look at it truely and see what single parents are really dealing with and I myself, hope it never happens to me. When we learned that 50% of children born in the 80's will at one point live in a single parent home was quite unbelieveable. I couldn't believe that there will be that many children living in a single parent home. It was shocking and really made me wonder what was going on in the home to have it go like this, and what more the child really needed, etc. I just can't believe that this many children and families are seperating and divorcing, it really makes you think about what is going on with this families structure and function and so forth. Now, when I heard that 87% of single parent homes are headed by women it didn't surprise me because you see it all the time. It just makes me upset and sad that the courts sometimes don't think that it is in the better interest of the child to go with the dad, when really it is sometimes, just because he is a male, like we discussed in class. For me sometimes I think the father would be the better parent for the child with some people I know, and you can tell that the children aren't happy with the arrangement.
I have a family member who is a single mom raising three kids on her own and it is very stressful for her and she suffers from emotional distress also. Sometimes it does show when she is around us and at work and how her everday emotions are and her personality has changed a little because of the stress and the emotional and physical drain of it. Her kids have a real hard time following directions and respecting what we tell them, and it shows that they do the same to her. It says "Hey if I can get a way with it from mom, then I bet I can with everyone else". The lack of child support is a definite problem there as well. Her ex-husband is very difficult right now and she is having a hard time getting him to cooperate. He keeps getting new jobs and quiting and so forth and so things keep changing and she gets more and more upset with him and emotionally drained from his antics. I just hope that I never have to deal with this and that as a family we continue to support her and give her the help that she needs to get through this.