Research: A few more facts and statistics

This week, I went back to some basic research on single-parenting. It always blows me away to read the statistics and risk factors. It worries me a little bit, but then I think hey, President Obama had a single mom, and he turned out just fine...

On to the facts:
In 2006, nearly 13 million families in the US were headed by a single person, and 80% of those were women. Since 1994, the rate of single-parent families in the US has remained steady, but it has doubled since the 1970s.
Single parent families are at high risk for poverty, particularly if the single parent lacks a college education. Single-parent families are also correlated with negative social, developmental, and physical outcomes for children. However, these effects can be curbed by positive involvement from a supportive friend and family network - but to some parents, this is unavailable. Single-parent families are often the source of social, political, and religious debate. People with non-religious and liberal viewpoints tend to be more welcoming of the changes in family life and structure, while conservatives tend to be more concerned about the decline in marriage and rise in cohabitation. To learn more, read here.

All of these things apply to me, and frankly it looks quite bleak if you only read the statistics. Of course I feel that it is necessary to realize the scope of the situation and have my work informed by it. However, I am really working to bring a sense of lightness and humor to an otherwise overwhelming topic. It is my hope that my collages will be entertaining and fun to look at on the surface, but will provoke deeper thought upon close examination. We will see...