Single Parenting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Single Parenting - Essay Example This situation can be reached with divorce, separation or break up after the relation without marriage. Though single parent families started originating in the early 1950's, they were at their peak somewhere around the late 1980's and 1990's. The main cause of a complete family being broken down into a single parent family was the death of a partner. However, the trend changed, and the main cause turned towards the divorce between partners. It is this addition of several new causes, especially divorce, that the single parent family form is the fastest growing form of family in the North America. The first surprising fact about single parenting is that this phenomenon has been defined in two different ways. The following definition of single parents is distinct by only a single feature. Single parenting is a situation where the sole parent is responsible for the upbringing of the child. The sole parent does not receive any form of assistance from the other parent due to circumstances such as death, abandonment, etc. There can be several other reasons beside a few listed. According to this definition, some single parents might not be entitled to hold the status of being a single parent. However, as discussed earlier, the changing trend brought with it, changes in the causes of becoming a single parent. ... However, the second half of this decade saw a general decline in the rise of single parent families. The rise of single parent families that dominated the US culture for 4 decades, ended 1996 onwards (Statistics). Reports in 1960 suggested that only 9 percent of the total children’s' population in the US was living in single parent families. This rose to a staggering 25% in 1990 and to 28% in the year 2000 (Simmons and ’Neill). It is interesting to note how these changes came about in statistical terms. Three separate trends of the family culture can be identified. Between 1996 – 2000, the share of children living with a never married parent rose to 11.0 percent from 10.6 percent. However, this first trend was offset by the second trend. The percentage of children living with a divorced parent dropped to 15.6 percent from 17.3 percent. The third trend, children living with a widowed parent, maintained a constant percentage of 1.2 percent. These figures depict tha t the number of children living with a never married parent increased by 400,000 whereas the number of children living with a divorced parent decreased by 1 million (Statistics). The US Census from the year 2000 shows us that 12.2% of all households are female single parent households whereas 4.2% of all households are male single parent households. According to these statistics there are a total number of 17,294,115 single parent families in the US alone (Weiss). The trend in the United Kingdom has been similar. Over a quarter (26%) of the families in Britain are single parent families. In numbers, there are over 2 million parents in Britain today, though this number has remained more or less constant since the

Thanksgiving Rituals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Thanksgiving Rituals - Essay Example One might be inclined to think of it as limited to the holiday that everyone looks forward to as the month of November nears. This event does not occur only in a single day every year. It transpires whenever someone chooses to allow it to. There is an abundance of incidents to feel grateful for and extend appreciation to—from the healing of an illness or the beginning of new life with birth to the occurrence of long awaited paydays or simply waking up the next morning. These are all meaningful instances on the accounts of a person. How are thanksgiving rituals carried out? These do vary from culture, religion, beliefs and other personal influences. There is none other practice of gratitude grander and more elaborate than the Thanksgiving day most commonly observed in the North America or particularly the United States. This event happens every fourth Thursday of the month of November. The typical scenario on this day is a family gathering with an extravagant feast of Turkey an d wine before them. It started out as a tradition of the Native Americans who primarily acquire their food from their harvest planted on their own land. As the Natives reap their produce for the season, they hold a ceremony as a symbol of their gratefulness (Schuh 9). In the modern times, things have evolved for the more magnificent difference from before. Every year, they hold a large parade where people crowd to behold large floats and balloons. It is an event both for the young and old as they marvel at the huge and famous cartoon and children’s book characters such as the famous Mickey Mouse as well as Santa Claus. The people behind this thanksgiving parade have been investing a considerable amount of time and effort for the preparation of the renowned event that leads to the doors of Macy’s (Grippo 9). This is the practice of thanksgiving in the United States. Their festivity and grandiose is a signature all over the world. Moving on across a different region in t he United States of America, the indigenous tribes of the Iroquois have a different ritual for thanksgiving. Their religion and beliefs dictate a different method and period of thanksgiving. There are six occurrences annually based on their own calendar. The purpose of this event is to signify their gratitude and the continuance of the spirits providing the natural resources (Pandian 199). It mostly involves a gathering filled with expressions of gratitude and welcome. This is for the purpose of the continuance of the prosperity of their land and the crops that grow in it as well as the life that thrives in it (Roeber 186). The Chinese also have a colorful celebration distinct from those of the American people. It is composed of three phases and called inoko for the locals. This is a festival to commemorate the successful harvest and takes place every year. They first present fruits to the spirits they believe in and then perform the reaping of their crops. The last stage is the rit es of thanksgiving where every person regardless of social standing is signified (Hendry 21). The act of harvest itself is their way of celebrating their appreciation. This bears close similarities to the Japanese method of giving thanks or expressing of gratitude. The sole difference being that their traditional ceremonies are repeated for four times annually (Hendry 21). The modern way of celebrating Thanksgiving in China is called Moon Festival or Mid-Autumn Festival after its timing. It has a considerable popularity all over the world because of their uniquely lavish way of celebrating their prosperous years bearing crops. Instead of the Americans way of feasting with