Term Paper on Single-parent family

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH My Story I was born in New York City, USA in the mid seventies, the only child in a family. My father worked in a Thai government organization as a diplomat and my mother was a manager in a commercial bank in Bangkok. My parents have separated since I was three years old and I stayed with my mother for most of my life. I lived in a compound with two houses in the outskirt of Bangkok, in Raminthra. My house consisted of my mother and me while the other house in my compound consisted of my mother’s family (my grandparents and my aunts). Observing some of the negative outcomes on children who grew up with one parent, whose stories appeared on TV shows and in the lives of some of my friends and colleagues, I questioned myself whether I had a healthy life growing up in a family where my parents were separated. Based on my physical health and mental health, my answer is “Yes”, physically, emotionally, and psychologically. I found my answer by looking into my own family structure. I grew up in an extended family system in which my grandparents and aunts help raised me up. Although, my parents were separated for more than three decades ago, both play a significant role particularly in family finance, family decision-making, and provide both academic and employment guidance throughout my life. My decision to study factors affecting the well-being of children living in single- mother families is influenced by my own life history and experience as a child of single- mother families. Comparing and contrasting my family background, I questioned if family composition alone really has effects on children’s lives. How do single-parents deal with busy working conditions in a highly competitive labor market and raise their children alone? What factors optimize positive outcomes for children following family breakdown. I had an optimistic view that a single-parent family did not have negative effects on most aspects of child well-being. 1 Introduction As capitalism restructured the Thai economic systems through the transformation from an agricultural to an industrial society and prevailed within the country, Thai society and family structure were altered. The emergence of the nuclear family with dual income earners, women’s greater economic independence through education and employment outside home, and the changing attitudes and social values which involve more positive assessments of single lifestyles and allow more autonomy to individuals anticipated a growing trend towards living separately after an unsuccessful relationship and a rise in divorce rates and ultimately an increasing number of single-parent households in Thai society in the last three decades. The number of single-parent families has increased substantially from 16.5% in 1980 to 26.2% in 2000 and to 29.6% in 2006. The National Statistical Office of Thailand reports among children and adolescents between 0-17 years old in 2008, 61.8 percent were living in two-parent households, 15 percent in single-mother families, 3.1 percent in single-father families, and 20.1 percent did not live with their parents. The Thai Health Promotion Foundation reports that among 11.4 million of children and adolescents between 11-22 years old in 2009, there were 2.5 million of those who were living in single-parent families. A survey study of Siwaporn Pokpong (2009), categorizing single-parent families by type, finds that 34.8 percent of all single-parent families were caused by divorce, 35.8 percent by separation, 27.1 percent were widowed, and 2.3 percent were living apart due to work. According to Household Socio-Economic survey of the National Statistical Office, the percentage of divorced couples per 100 married couples rose from 10% in 2003 to more than 30% in 2011 which made 34.9 percent of children living in single-parent families and 63.4 percent of those living in single-mother families. Statement of the Problem Traditionally, intact or two-parent family is considered as the most desirable form of family organization. Any deviations from this family form, particularly single-parent family, will be viewed in a negative, pathological way. For example, when researchers look at the consequences of children living in single-parent households, they tend to focus only on the negative aspects of this life experience. For example, children growing up with one parent are likely to have negative experiences with school performance, self-esteem, social adjustment, psychological well-being, lower standard of living and lower marital satisfaction of their own. However, there is little research on exploring the healthy functioning of single-parent families in terms of how they manage difficult life events, especially how they navigate successfully the transition from a dual-parent family system to a single-parent family system. For the most part, analysis of the single-parent family functioning has been undertaken as a study of deviation from the norm, because the norm has been arrived at by the study of the conventional nuclear family experience. The main purpose of this research study was to explore lived experience of single- mother families in terms of how they cope with their lives financially and emotionally without a partner. By examining the lived experiences of single-mother families, this study intended to illuminate the educational experiences and behavioral experiences of children experiencing single-parenthood. So the explicit research questions guiding this study is: what are the factors that influence the well-being of children living in single-mother families in Bangkok, Thailand? 2  CHAPTER 2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Trends in single-mother families in Thailand have been increasing over the past decades. There is a complexity of problems facing single-mothers that have been studied while existing literatures on single-parent families in Thailand are only limited to examining family structures and outcome of children while overlooking the actual factors embedded in such family structure that may affect the success of children who grew up in these family formation. A better understanding of the lived experiences of single-mother families in today’s society and the meanings single-mothers and children make of their experiences allow me to conduct this study by looking into possible factors that have impact on the well- being of children of single-mother families. The study employs two theoretical frameworks, including social exchange theory and the family composition perspective to provide a basis for understanding why couples stay married or divorce and how family composition plays an important role in the well-being of children. Social Exchange Theory Social Exchange Theory claims that society is composed of ever present interactions among individuals who attempt to maximize rewards while minimizing costs (Hammond, 2010). Assumptions in this theory are based on rational choice which view human beings as capable of making sound choices when the pros and cons of the choice are understood. Decisions about when and whom to marry and whether to remain in a marriage are presumably made by rational actors who weigh the costs and benefits of alternative courses of action and choose the best options. This theory uses a formula to measure the choice making processes: (REWARDS – COSTS) = OUTCOMES or (What I get out of it – What I lose by doing it) = My decision to stay married or divorce (Levinger, 1976). Rewards include love, support, companionship, emotional security, social status and connections, sexual relations, as well as property, financial resources, and assistance with daily tasks. Costs include extra work and responsibilities, annoying habits, or limited individual choices and freedom (Clark-Stewart and Brentano, 2006). Therefore, social exchange theory is applicable to explaining the reasons why couples decide to terminate their marriage and choose to live alone and/or raise their children by themselves. Family Composition Perspective This theoretical perspective emphasizes the consequences of living in two different types of family. First, children from non-intact families are at greater risk for some negative outcomes such as emotional distress and behavioral problems, including anger, resentment, unreasonable demands, noncompliance, anxiety, and depression (Amato 2000). Second, Coleman et al. (2000) claim that most of the research shows the children from non-intact perform have poorer academic performance than the children from intact families. Theorists who take the family composition perspective state that family composition is related to the well-being of individuals, particularly children (Aquilino 1994; Demo 1992) 3  CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY Chapter II illustrated how the social exchange theory and the family composition perspective were used as the theoretical underpinning to understand the participants’ lives in relation to the process by which economic and social structure have brought many couples’ marriages to an end and how family composition and the relationship family members have with each other play a vital role in the well-being of children. This study employs qualitative methods to examine self-perspectives on the experiences of single-mother families who have gone through family transitions from married couples to divorced parents. Phenomenological research design was selected for this study in order to understand and explore the lived experience of single-mothers and adult children of single-mother families in terms of how they manage to cope with their lives financially and emotionally without another biological parent and the meaning they attached to these experiences. An outline of this chapter includes 1) Study Participants 2) Data Collection 3) Data Analysis 4) Trustworthiness. Study Participants Sample Characteristics People become members of a single-parent family for many reasons, for example, divorced parents, separated parents, widowed parents, never married single-parents, and out of wedlock children. However, single-mother families included in the study are particularly those caused by divorce or separation. I have chosen to study single-mother families because there were a higher number of children who were raised by a lone mother, compared to a lone father. In addition, the number of divorced and separated parents were found to be relatively high, compared to the number of other types of parents. I chose a form of non-probability sampling as the basis for selecting the sample since it was highly unlikely to know how many people make up the overall population under these circumstances. The selection of the sample for the study were a snowball sampling and purposive sampling. Due to the lack of reported rates of single-parent families in Thailand, according to the national statistical office of Thailand, a snow-ball-sampling technique was being employed to identify subjects who were difficult to locate. In keeping with the snow ball process and as the study progressed, I have asked the participants to recommend other participants who share similar experiences. Purposive sampling method was chosen as the most appropriate method for this research because this technique was frequently used for work on sensitive and low frequency issues. 4  Single-parent families who met the following eligibility criteria were recruited for this study: (a) mothers and children must be middle class people who earn a minimum wage of 300 baht per day and/or those who work outside the agricultural sectors and commit to salaried employment; (b) mothers and children must not come from the same family to control bias and ensure trustworthiness of the results; (c) mothers must have joint or sole custody of the children or, if separated, the children must live with the mother the majority of the time; (d) mothers must be separated/divorced for at least 2 years. It is difficult to determine at the beginning of the study the number of participants to recruit into the study. However, according to Creswell (1998), the sample sizes in phenomenology is between five to 25. As a result, I decide to recruit 5 single-mothers and 5 adults of single-mother families. Demographic Characteristics I purposely aimed to interview Thai single-mothers and young adults of single-mother families from middle income families. The single mothers and the young adults, included in this study were not from the same families to control for bias and ensure trustworthiness of the results. Although the study intentionally focuses on the effects on children of single- parent families, it was reasonable to include adults aged 20 years or older in this study as they are more mature enough to be able to articulate and communicate with the researcher. In my opinion, young adults are likely to be able to look back to their past experiences and able to analyze them in terms of how family structure affected their lives while growing up without a father and related them to their well-being. This study aims to study middle class people, living in Bangkok and its metropolitan areas. Middle class in this study was defined by two criteria; household income and occupation. Minimum wage rates in Thailand, which is 300 baht per person per day as set by Thailand’s Employment Committee No. 6, was used as a tool to estimate the living standard in order to correspond to my definition of middle class. Another criterion that was used to identify middle class in this study was occupation of participants. According to Key Indicators 2010 from Asian Development Bank, middle class is less connected to agriculture and less likely to be wage laborers. In sum, middle class in this study was defined as a group of people who earn a minimum wage of 300 baht per day and/or those who worked outside agricultural sectors and commit to salaried employment. Operationalization The following are definitions of terms as they will be used in this study: Divorce is the legal termination of a marital relationship. The terms divorce and separation will be used interchangeably. 5  Single-parent family in this study is defined as a family headed by a parent who is either widowed, divorced or separated, or by a parent who has never married. For the purpose of this study, single-parent family is one who is divorced or separated. Single-mothers are defined as divorced or separated mothers who care for one or more children without the physical assistance of the other biological parent. Children of single-mother families are defined as adult children who were cared for and raised by a divorced or separated mother. Kin is defined as a group of persons related by blood or a common ancestor and may include parents, siblings, relatives, and in-laws. Outcome of children is defined as the distinguishable characteristics of children who experience a single-parent family structure Outcomes were classified into the following categories: • Academic achievement • Conduct/behavior/delinquency • Psychological disturbances or well-being: Depression/anxiety/happiness • Self concept/esteem • Social relations or adjustment with others • Physical health • Employment/income Well-being of children is defined as the quality of life which include child’s economic conditions, peer relations, physical and mental health, and opportunities for development. Data collection Face-to-Face Interview This study employed a semi-structured interview method with single-mothers and adult children of single-mother families. Prior to the interview, I reviewed the purpose of the study and provided each respondent with an informed consent agreement (see APPENDIX A) for a signature. The initial interview questions (APPENDIX B) were used as a guideline for interview. A pre-defined list of issues such as background information (divorce history, occupation and income levels), perspectives on family issues, characteristics of family before and after divorce/separation, challenges of single parenting, effects of family breakdown on children, and changes in parent-child relationship made an informal conversation on the research subject. Carrying out in the Thai language, each conversational interview was recorded and transcribed verbatim after while field notes were kept on observations relating to the respondent’s mood, tone of voice, facial expressions, and body language. 6 Observation Data collection also employed observational methods along with semi- structured interviews to strengthen the study, control for bias and establish valid propositions. These will include watching the subject’s body language and recording what took place. Before terminating the interview, I also asked for their contact information and permissions to proceed a follow-up telephone interview if I find some missing data or unclear responses. Data Analysis The steps that I used to illustrate how the interview data were analyzed and interpreted include the following procedures: Organizing data In order to prevent forgetting some important points, I created an “Interview Summary” for participants immediately after the end of each interview. The aim of this interview summary was to interpret the content of the interview in a way that relates the findings to the objectives of the study. Direct quotes from the respondent were also included if a respondent was particularly expressive and insightful in revealing their perspectives on a subject. To assist in organizing the respondents’ attributes, I created two “respondents’ demographic information spreadsheets”, including “single-mothers’ demographic information” (APPENDIX C) and “adult children’ demographic information” (APPENDIX D). Respondents’ attributes include age, occupation, monthly income, marital status, and number of household members. The interview summary and respondent demographic information were used as a reference for analyzing the data. Analyzing data To make an important connection to the research question, I will employ thematic analysis to identify the most interesting and demonstrative patterns across the interview (Merrium, 2002). Thematic analysis aims at discovering the most common and relevant themes within the data, which were able to represent the whole dataset. This steps entail describing and developing themes from the interview data to answer research question. Trustworthiness In order to ensure the reliability and validity of the study, I will triangulate the data by making the summaries of the initial interview and requesting the participants to make any comments or criticisms to reaffirm the preceding thoughts and perspectives so as to verify or clarify my understanding. The use of two sets of informant; the single-mothers and the adult children of single-mother families who are not from the same families, is another way of triangulating via data sources. Viewpoints and experiences from the single-mothers will then be verified against those of adult children. 7  CHAPTER 4 DESCRIPTION OF PARTICIPANTS The sample was selected from recommendations made by colleagues and friends. In one case, I selected an adult children I had known. The participants were categorized into two sets; single-mothers and adult children. In order to acquaint one with the uniqueness of each family, a brief description follows. The mothers and children were assigned fictitious names by me to protect their anonymity. Single-Mothers 1. Koong A 57 year-old single mother of a daughter got divorced because her husband planned to bring his new wife to stay together in the house. After she saw how unfaithful he was, it did not take much time for her to make a decision to divorce. Besides adultery that cause her divorce, battery was another reason. She expressed with tears that her husband often spank and kick her daughter whenever he sensed that she and her daughter will escape from him. Even though she expected that her husband will help pay for the child support after the divorce as he had promised, but she never received any financial assistance from him. However, she did not confront any financial problems since she received some financial aids from her colleagues and her brother for her daughter’s tuition. She is a security guard and currently living with her 27 year-old daughter. 2. Fon A 31 year-old single-mother separated from her husband who was a freelance driver because she seldom has a chance to stay with him as he was often hired by a private tour company for traveling outbound. She didn’t get in touch with him any more after being separated. In the first few months of separation, she admitted that she felt cramped to lie her daughter her dad went to work that eventually she has to tell her the truth that he will never come back. However, she did not experience any financial problem since she was supported by her new husband. She is a government officer and currently living with her daughter and new husband. 3. Lord A 49 year-old single mother divorced from her husband because of infidelity. Even worse, his other woman was pregnant. She did not regret of having to divorce since she did not want her daughter to grow up with her dad as a bad role model. She also did not experience any financial difficulty raising her daughter alone since her parents was responsible for all the household expenses both before and after divorce. 8  4. Lek A 39 year-old single mother separated from her husband once she found out that he was having an affair. The most difficult time for her was the first year following a separation since she has to be responsible for all the household expenses in which her husband use to help her before they were separated. She has to work extra hours in order to compensate for the lack of her husband’s income. However, she said that she did not confront any conflicts between having to work overtime and the time spent with her children since her house is not very far from her workplace. 5. Eede A 55 year-old single mother of one son and one daughter separated from her husband for 22 years because of her husband’s abuse of alcohol. She demanded a separation because she was not willing to cover his expenses anymore. While she had no problem raising her son, she was worried about her daughter since she did not want her daughter to rush into a relationship. She would always guide her to find a man who was hardworking and highly committed to family. Adult Children 1. Art A 23 year-old only son of a single-mother experienced his parents’ separation when he was only one year old. He physically grew up with his mother since he was born. He was now married with one kid. He expressed that economic resources are critical for his schooling because if his dad had given him some financial support, he would have finished high school and possibly obtain at least a bachelor’s degree. 2. Kanyarad A 23 year-old daughter of a single-mother experienced his parents’ divorce when she was 12 years old. Her father never gave the family any supports after the divorce. However, she did not experience any financial hurdles because her grandparents was very supportive of her and even adopted her as their child. 3. Win A 36 year-old adult children of a single-mother experienced his parents’ divorce when he was 20 years old. He admitted that he never ask his mother the reason of the divorce, but guessed that there might be a conflict in terms of personality and attitude. My mom was a housemaid at the Government House. He was highly empathized for his mother’s hard work that he decided to work during the daytime and go to college in the evening to help with the family expenses. 9  4. Navin A 30 year-old son of a single-mother experienced his parents’ divorce when he was first born. His parent divorced because his father went to stay with his former ex-wife. He admitted that he did not felt lacking of love and support after his parents’ divorce since his grandparents played exactly the same role as his parents. However, he expressed that his mother never mentioned about his father and that if he has his own family in the future, he would never abandon his wife and children. 5. Tuk A 55 year-old daughter if a single-mother experience parents’ separation when she was 4 years old because her father was very flirtatious. After the separation, Tuk requested to live with her grandmother of her father side in Bangkok because she did not want to suffer from her mother emotional swinging. She did not experience much of a difficulty because she received financial assistance for her tuition from her grandmother. 10  CHAPTER 5 RESEARCH FINDINGS To report the findings, I used a narrative strategy as an interpretive device through which informants shared their life stories and their past experiences. From the perspectives and experiences of both single-mothers and children from a single-mother family. I was able to capture three pertinent themes which were accountable for the well-being of the children in single-parent family and these include financial conditions, parental skills, and extended kin support. These three major themes are further divided into sub-categories as shown in FIGURE 1. FIGURE 1: Factors Affecting Well-being of Children of Single-Mother Families Theme I: Financial conditions The data show that divorce primarily creates some changes in financial conditions of single-mother families. This condition is notably found in single-mothers who did not work during the marriage in which divorce has deteriorated their standard of living by reducing income to meet the same amount of expense that used to be covered by two incomes. On the other hand, it was found that financial condition of those single-mothers who worked during the marriage has not changed after the divorce or separation. In some exceptionally cases, the financial condition after divorce improved because they did not need to be responsible for their ex-husband’s expenses. The theme of financial conditions is divided into three subcategories, including worsen, unchanged, and improved. a) Worsen Single-mother families that suffered from economic problems after divorce were the ones where both husband and wife used to share financial responsibilities for the household while married. Financial problems exacerbated as the separated father stopped paying for household expenses and child support. 11  Two single-mothers in this study demonstrated that divorce is financially traumatic. At the beginning of the separation, Lek revealed that her ex-husband agreed to pay for the tuition fees for all their three sons, but he did not actually follow through as he promised as he paid for only once. Lek said: “My ex-husband helped out with the household expenses when we were married. He promised to pay for the children’ tuition fees after divorce, but he didn’t actually do. I would say I that the very first year following a divorce was the most difficult time in my life since I have to be responsible for all the household expenses. Fortunately, I have a chance for OT work as my house was very close to my office.” Koong shared similar experience, which her ex-husband agree to contribute 50% for child support after the divorce, but he actually failed to keep his promise since the very beginning of the divorce. She explained: “We were separated when my daughter was in high school. After finding out that my husband will bring his new wife to stay in our house, I decided to leave the house together with my daughter and stay at my brother’s house. I never received any kind of financial support from him after divorce. My daughter has to apply for a student loan by herself in order to pursue her undergraduate studies.” b) Unchanged Previous research supports a picture of downward income mobility for single-mother families because of the loss of one income earner. Unfortunately, this is not always a case. While in some single-mother families the financial situation became extremely difficult after the divorce because the mother had the sole responsibility for the children, other families did not find a divorce as financially devastating. This is depended on how the single-mothers were able to handle the financial condition following divorce. One single- mother and 4 adult children from the study reported that divorce failed to affect them financially. This was mainly because both before and after the divorce, grandparents were the one who support family expenses. Lord revealed that she and her husband were staying in her parent’s home since they were married and it was her parent who paid for all the household expenses. Her husband was not a breadwinner from the start. She expressed: “I did not feel a divorce has affected me financially because my husband never ever financially supported the family either before or after the divorce. I wouldn’t accept it anyway if he offered. Also, I lived in an extended family system throughout my life which my parent was responsible for all the family expenses. Therefore, I didn’t feel any changes financially after divorce because my parent was the main source of income from the beginning.” 12  A majority of adult children in the study did not find their parents’ divorce had much effect financially. Part of the reason is the financial supports they gained from kin. Kanyarad explained: “My dad never helped us with financial aid after the divorce. But, I did not experience any financial struggle because my grandmother was paying for my tuition while my mom would occasionally pay for my monthly allowance. I was very fortunate since my grandparents adopt me as their child which I called her mom.” Others, who found that economic condition following divorce was not changed, are those whose parents divorced when they were too young to recall the circumstances. Tuk parents separated when she was around 4 years old. She couldn’t compare the differences in terms of financial circumstances between before and after separated because she was too young when this incidence occurred. She explained: “I was too little to recall any circumstances before my parents’ separation. But, I remember I didn’t have any financial problems while I was growing up with my mom eventhough she had a lower financial status than my dad. She didn’t have much money for me to spend lavishly, but she had enough money for me to go to school and go to see the movie with my friends.” Although many families in the study did not struggle with economic difficulties while growing up with a sole mother, they considered financial stability important factors for raising a child and even more important for advancing a child’s education which could lead to better life chances. Art explained: “Although my dad stopped the financial aid after he separated from my mom, financial circumstances of the family was unchanged because my mom always took care of the bills. However, I sometimes think that if I had more financial support from my dad, I would have better chance to finish my high school and possibly continue my undergraduate studies and I might have a better job than being just a salesperson.” c) Improved While divorce left many single-mothers less well off economically or remained unchanged, some participants in the study surprisingly claimed that their status has improved. One adult children and three single-mothers admitted that they benefitted financially from the divorce. Adult children in the study felt that financial circumstances after their parents’ divorce was improved since single-mothers worked harder in order to be able to afford the family living condition. 13  Win explained: My mom was a housemaid at the Government House. After she was divorced from my dad, she thought that she needed to earn more income and then she started her sewing job on weekends. I believed that our household income increased more than before since my mom worked harder.” Single-mothers from the study reported that they ended up with a stronger financial position than they married either because their former husbands never supported the family financially during their marriage or they no longer had to support their husband financially and that their income now only had to cover her expenses and the children’s expenses. Eat shared her story that: “I was financially supportive for my family when we were married because I earned more income. Once I divorced from my husband, my financial status was even better since I no longer have to spend money on treating my husband’s abuse of alcohol. I could spend money more wisely on my children’s needs”. Lord expressed that: “I felt relieved that I no longer have to financially support my husband who was so selective in getting a job that he was unemployed for many years during the Asian financial crisis.” Other single-mothers revealed that their financial conditions improved than before due to financial assistance from their new husband. Fon expressed: “I didn’t get in touch with my ex-husband since after being separated, he never financially supported me and my daughter. However, I did not experience any financial hardship since my new husband was very financially supportive for my daily life expenses as well as daughter’s tuition fees.” Theme II: Parental Skills The first year following separation or divorce can be “as devastating as any natural disaster” (Herz Brown, 1989). As a result, post-divorce could be overwhelming and challenging to many single-mothers and children. In addition to a shortage of financial resources following the divorce as mentioned earlier, the single-mothers in the study were confronted with how to cope their children without a spouse. The skills that were considered to be necessary for children’s growth, as described by the participants, contributed to the children’s ability to adjust, to develop, and to have a healthy well-being. They also reported that the parenting styles of discipline and the types of relationship between parents and child were significant predictor of how well the children were doing. 14  Parenting styles are categorized according to whether they are high or low on parental demandingness and responsiveness, which reflects different naturally occurring patterns of parental values, practices, and behaviors (Baumrind, 1991). A typology of three parenting styles include authoritarian, permissive, and authoritative. Authoritarian parenting style (“Too Hard”) is characterized by high demandingness with low responsiveness by expecting their orders to be obeyed without explanation. Permissive parenting style (“Too Soft”) is characterized by low demandingness with high responsiveness. The permissive parent is overly responsive to the child's demands, seldom enforcing consistent rules. Authoritative parenting style (“Just Right”) is characterized by moderate demandingness with moderate responsiveness. The authoritative parent is firm but not rigid, willing to make an exception when the situation warrants. The authoritative parent is responsive to the child's needs but not indulgent. According to the data, the majority of the participants reported that their relationship between the mother and the children were highly bonded and cohesive. However, only one adult child reported that she didn’t want to stay with her mom after her parents’ separation due to the fact that her mom experience emotional distress and would often scold her for no reasons. In terms of discipline and communication, the majority of mothers reported that they developed guidelines for their children, which could be either flexible or firm depending on particular circumstances. The styles of parenting in the study were a mix of two categories; authoritative parenting and permissive parenting. The task of rule setting, communicating, and teaching were found to be most challenging for single-mothers. While participants considered nurturing, disciplining, and also providing children liberal opportunities, they tend to place more emphasis on their children’s education, behavior and financial management, and future relationships or families. a) Education Apart from a mix of authoritative and permissive styles of parenting that they used to guide their children’s behavior, the participants also developed a close relationship with their children while maintaining a moderate to reasonably high level of expectation regarding their children’ futures. Three single-mothers and one adult children in the study reported that education was one of the most crucial elements that was highly emphasized for children in single-mother families. The data revealed that most single-mother s firmly believed that academic achievement would lead their child to have a decent quality of life and a good paying and stable job in the future. An important step in motivating children to excel in school was to put an emphasis on the child’s personal interest and be supportive of them. For example, Koong said she recommended her daughter to study business and finance because she noticed her interest in banking. Since her daughter obtained her high school diploma from Wat Dusitaram High 15  School whose abbreviation was ดร. which in Thai meant PhD., she often said to her daughter that she wished to be a mom of PhD child. Some invested money in education. For example, Eede decided to separate from her husband after staying with him for 10 years because most of her income was being spent on buying alcoholic beverages for her husband due to his prolonged alcohol abuse. Rather, she wanted to save money for her children’s education. Lek had high expectation for her three sons to achieve at least a bachelor’s degree or higher level of education in order for them to have a better career. A similar story was reported by adult children, Art, that his mother expected him to receive more than a 9th grade degree. Art’s mother used a verbal teaching to indirectly inform him toward the importance of education. He expressed: “My mother usually said that if I choose to continue my studies, I would have a good paying and prestigious job. However, if I totally abandon my studies, I would not be able to escape physically energy-deprived job like construction workers.” b) Discipline A lack of a father might be interpreted as a lack of disciplinarian of a family. Participants in the study were likely to be concerned with disobedient behaviors that might arise from the absence of the father. To keep children from developing deviant behaviors, three single-mothers reported that they, in addition to letting their children know that they loved and cared for them, they also demanded responsible behavior from their children by setting rules for them to consistently follow. Generally, single-mothers set the house rules to ensure their child to be tidy around the house. Apart from the assistance with household chores, some mother stressed the importance of refraining from telling lies. For example, Fon and Eede viewed that lying was an unacceptable behavior, which they emphasized to their children above other issues. Single-mothers in the study reported that the issues that they were most concerned with include drugs, and alcohol addiction, gambling, and committing a crime. These concerns were found in both single-mothers who had sons and those who had daughters since they worried that such traumatic experiences in their children’ younger years may lead them to get involved in deviant behavior later on. However, the most pertinent concern for most of the sons were the expectation that they should treat their girlfriend in the most discrete ways without any possible sexual harassment. Lek said that she never punished her three sons by spanking, but only scolding to make them realize their mistakes. However, the only thing that worried her was that they might be exposed to drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol or claimed for unintended pregnancy. Adult children in the study reported that although their mother never sat down and had a direct face-to-face conversation about those activities, they were informed to be aware 16 of the danger of them. Win and Navin shared a similar experience that their mother did not set rules or limits on them about anything, except a warning not to get involved with risky behaviors such as drinking and gambling. An interesting strategy that one single-mother employed to monitor and prevent her daughter from getting involved in illegal activities and to live by morals was to encourage her to perform daily Buddhist chanting before going to bed and to give alms or other form of merit making whenever she has a chance. Having to face with the shortage of income and the myriad of household expenses after divorce or separation can be very stressful and chaotic for single-mother families. One single-mother and one adult child reported money management skills were frequently emphasized in the family of a sole mother. Data revealed that single-mother who found that money management was important to be taught to children did not experience financial difficulty, but was economically better off after the divorce. In contrast, an adult child of a single-mother who experienced some financial difficulty after divorce found that prudent money spending was vital and often stressed in the family without a father. Eede uncovered that it was important to teach the children the value of money and to encourage them to be very economical on what is being spent. Also, careful maintenance of the budget was equally important because she viewed that spending money in a way that was consistent with a good plan could provide a sense of well-being even without support from a father. She said: “I always told my daughter not to behave like her dad by overspending money on things that were not necessary. We even have higher household income compared with living with my husband who are very spendthrift.” Win admitted that he noticed a dramatic decline of his family income after his parents’ divorce although his father occasionally gave him some pocket money if he requested. He explained: “My mom always told me to use money wisely because after my dad left, our family income decreased, whereas, our expenses increased due to me and my brothers were growing up. My mom had to work overtime in order to earn some extra money while I have to work during the day time and went to class in the evening to help with the family expenses.” Overall, single-mothers and adult children in the study viewed that prudent financial management not only allowed them to survive after divorce, it also allowed them to be able to deal with ad hoc or unexpected incidence that could possible emerge in the future without worrying about having a financial difficulty. 17  c) Future Relationships Another issue that single-mothers in the study were worried about was a child’s future relationships. One of the important ways that children learn about relationships is by watching their parents interact. Koong sobbed while reporting that there was recurrent arguments between she and her husband about her husband’s request to bring his new girlfriend into the house. To prevent her daughter from suffering emotional distress of having to witness intermittent conflict between her and her husband, she decided to divorce before her husband ever have a chance to bring his new girlfriend to stay in the house. On the other hand, Lord said that she decided to divorce while her daughter was very young (before kindergarden) even though there was no severe conflict at all between her and her husband because she didn’t want her daughter to suffer from her husband’s infidelity as this may affect her daughter’s social interaction with others in the future. Single-mothers in the study reported that they wished their children would have a warm and caring family in the future and not to step into the same mistakes they did. Eede did not want her daughter to rush into relationships. Eede expressed: “What I encountered in my life, I didn’t want my daughter to face it. I wished for her to meet with a man who is committed to family, hardworking, and not addicted to alcohol or gambling. I told my daughter to take a long time to know a man’s personality and family background before getting married.” Whereas, adult children reported that although their mothers give them freedom to make their own choices in relationships, they wanted them to have a sustainable relationship. Even though intact family was an ideal for all and they expected not to follow their parents’ pattern, they did not have a negative attitude towards single-parent families. Experiencing a broken family where his dad went back to live with his former wife while his mom started a new family with one kid, Navin wish that this incidence would not happen with him and his family. He revealed: “I grew up seeing my mom having a hopeless relationship with my dad made me swear to myself that I wouldn’t do like what my dad did to my mom. I know exactly how sad it was in my mom’s position. If I have my own family in the future, I’ll never abandon my wife and my children and will do in whatever ways to nurture and support my family.” 18 Theme III: Extended Kin Supports Single-mothers are often unable to adequately support their children when family breakdown occurs due to their own distress, and children often seek and gain support from those outside the immediate family such as relatives and friends. The data showed that the participants believed that social support from kin played a crucial role in the pattern of recovery and adjustment of both single-mothers and the adult children. With help from relatives and friends, the majority of the participants sooner or later were able to recover from grief, adjust to new environment, and handle their everyday tasks. This theme correspond with questions I asked participants about relationship with their kin and former family; whether they received any supports from kin and relatives after they became a single-mother or during living with a single-mother and what types of support they obtained. Their responses range from receiving a financial support, childcare assistance, emotional support, and no support. A few of those who reported they received no support from their kin turned to their friends for a support. The data from some, who reported they received financial support either from their ex-husband will not be included in this theme. a) Financial support Becoming a single mother was a big and daunting problem especially when a mother does not have enough expenses to support her child. The data showed that most participants reported that their kin was their first major economic source after the divorce while few reported that their husband offered some financial support. Particularly, the single-mothers’ parents and siblings were likely to aid them with the children’s tuition and some household expenses. Mostly, the single-mother families turned to their natal kin for any kinds of support. Three single-mothers in the study reported they received some financial aid from their former family to help support their cost of living and some funds for their children’s tuition. For example, because Lord was one of the beneficiary of her parents’ company, financial aid from her parents was quite spontaneously transferred to cover her expenses and her daughter’s. Koong received some financial aids from her colleagues and her brother for her daughter’s tuition. Fon’s daughter’s tuition was under her parents’ responsibility. Two adult children in the study reported similar circumstances in which they turned to maternal kin for financial support. Win and Navin were very close to their mother’s side relatives. They received financial assistance from them while growing up with a sole mother. Win explained: “Since my mother’s salary is not enough to cover for my daily expenses, my grandmother would usually gave me some pocket money to go to school each day until I continue my vocational studies that she stopped paying me as I earned a job.” Navin said: 19  “My aunt was still single so she has no dependents. She raised me like her own son. Being employed as a civil servant, her income was not that high. However, I could always turn on her for short-term borrowings whenever I have school-related expenses like field trip and athletic club. Only one adult children turned to paternal kin for assistance. Tuk received financial aid from her paternal grandmother. She said: “However, I was very fortunate that my grandmother supported me through my tuition until I graduated from college since my mother was not financially capable.” b) Childcare assistance As a one income earner, it is inevitable that almost all single-mothers had to work more extra hours to meet their financial needs, which made it extremely difficult for them to look after their children while at work. The data showed that childcare assistance offered to the participants was mainly from their kin. Three single-mothers in the study received childcare assistance from their former family while they were working. Lord explained her post-divorce situation that she received a lot of help from her sister, who was still unmarried during that time. “While married, I was unemployed. After I divorced, I was fortunate to get a job as an accountant at government office so I rarely had the chance to take care of my daughter who was in her second grade. It was my sister who helped taking care of her.” Lek indicated that she received childcare assistance from her mother during marriage. However, such aid diminished after a divorce. She indicated that her mother helped her with raising her eldest son when he was one year old. She did not receive any more childcare help from her mother after she divorced from her husband during which her eldest son was 14. On the other hand, Fon indicated that she received childcare help from her mother after she divorce during which her daughter was three years old. From their stories, I was able to induce that the age of child at the divorce is related to the level of childcare assistance from kin, in which a childcare support by kin tends to be diminished if parents divorced when a child is at older years. Two adult children in the study indicated that they spent some time during their childhood with their older relatives on their mother’s side. Navin expressed: “I never felt lacking of a father or mother because my maternal grandparents provide the same role and maybe even a better role than my parent. I remembered when I was a kid, my grandparents were the one who took care of me most of the time since my mom has to go to work in Bangkok at the insurance company. So, I sometimes called my grandparents as mom and dad which still continue until these days.” At younger years, Tuk was sent to stay with her maternal aunt. She recalled that after her mother’s separation, she noticed that her mother experienced great emotional distress that she often was being scolded. She revealed: 20  “I understand that my mother was very stressful as I can observe from her emotional swing and outburst. So I decided to go to Bangkok and stay with my aunt instead to be able to concentrate more on my studies.” c) Emotional support In addition to financial aid and childcare assistance, emotional support was also being provided by kins. Four single-mothers in the study reported they obtained some emotional support from their kin, including their own parents, siblings, and in-laws. Commonly, the single-mothers who receive financial aid or childcare assistance from their kin were likely to receive some emotional support from them as well. Lord, Lek, and Fon not only obtained a childcare assistance when they turned to their former family, some emotional supports were automatically transferred. After Koong decided to move into her brother’s house together with daughter which is located in the same compound, she also received an emotional support through the love and nurturing by her brother in addition to financial aid offer for her daughter’s tuition. d) No support Although extended family members or kin plays an important role in social support system to many single-mother families, some families in this study reported that kin support was not allocated within their family. The families that did not received any social support from kin were either those who reported that they were not close to their kin even before divorce or separation or those who live very far apart from their kin which made it difficult for them to constantly get in touch with them. Eede did not regularly keep in touch with her relatives since they lived in Srisaket while she and her children lived in Bangkok. Art described that he was not close to his relatives since he grew up having only his mother in his life. CHAPTER 6 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS 21  Once the themes reflecting major factors affecting the well-being of children are identified, the concept of how these factors result in children’s outcome emerged into two issues; academic achievement and behaviors. Theme I: Financial conditions Previous studies tended to focus on how marital disruption affects children’s academic performance in relation to the economic resources of single-parent families. Some studies indicated that the factor that has a significant effect on school performance and children’s academic achievement is the family structure (Astone and McLanahan, 1991). However, this study has shown that neither family structure nor financial circumstances were directly accountable for the academic achievement of children from of single-mother families. Although, some admitted that financial circumstances were poorer after marital disruption, it did not have much effect on school performance and academic achievement of their children. On the other hand, adult children regardless of gender in the study perceived that money is a significant predictor of their education. From the data analysis, this perception was interrelated with the age of the child when the parents divorced. Adult children whose parents were divorced when they were in college tended to perceive that money could determine whether they will have a chance to continue their study to a higher degree of education or not, which in the long run could affect their career success. On the contrary, if their parental separation occurred when they were too young to recognize the differences in financial circumstances before and after their parents’ separation, they do not feel that money and family income have any significant effect on their education. Theme II: Parental Competence The family composition perspective claiming that children who were raised in one- parent households are more likely to experience undesirable academic performance and behavioral problems compared to children raised in two-parent families was not substantiated in this study. The data showed none of the children from single-mother families received lower grade or performed less well in school. Thus, family arrangement is not absolutely found to be the factor influencing children’s academic school performance. Rather, parents’ involvement, expectation, and emphasis on education contribute and encourage their children to achieve an academic success. According to the perspectives of single-mothers in the study, all rated their children’s school performance from average to fairly decent and expected their child to obtain at least a bachelor’s degree. This study also highlighted that growing up with a lone mother does not always negatively affect children’s behavior as long as the lone mothers provide them the discipline, love, support, guidance, as well as moderate levels of parental control which is found to be protective against harmful behaviors. Theme III: Extended Kin Support 22  While previous research (McLanahan and Sadefure, 1994) argued that the loss of a close connection with another biological parent may lead to lower academic performance and/or trigger behavioral problems of the child, this study has shown that the loss of such social capital from one parent can be substituted by the single-mother’s former family and other extended kin. The research findings indicated that single-mothers and children more or less obtained some social support from their kin following divorce or separation. Social supports from kin played a crucial role in the process of economic and emotional adjustment for the recently separated mother and accordingly on children’s education either by providing financial resources or offering childcare assistance to the families. With financial help from kin, single-mothers were able to maintain the quality of living and produced positive outcomes for their children’s education. On the parallel basis, with childcare assistance by trustful kin, single-mothers were able to work extra hours in order to earn more money for their family well-being. The finding also indicated that children of single-mother families in the study did not demonstrate problematic behavior such as drug use or fighting with peers. An explanation of this result was that single-mothers tended to seek emotional support from their kin, including their own parents, siblings, and relatives. The better they were able to master their emotions, the greater their ability to cope with stress and focus more on important priorities particularly taking care of their children. This could prevent a risk for behavioral problems in children. CHAPTER 7 SUMMARY 23 Conclusion The purpose of this study was to understand the experience of single-mothers and adult children of single-mother families during the transition process from marriage to divorce. This study examined the process of family breakdown that are associated with the fathers’ absences from families and the continuation of the families without the fathers. While there was a concern driven by cultural assumptions and previous studies that children from intact families whose parents remain together were better off than children from non- intact families whose parents separate, the evidence in this study indicated that children growing up with a lone other did not necessarily develop an unhealthy sense of well-being. This study found three major factors influencing the well-being of children of single-mother families, including financial resources, parenting styles of discipline, and extended kin supports. Two emerging issues which include academic performance and social behaviors were used as the criteria in measuring the well-being of children. Financial circumstance played a significant role in the well-being of children. However, it could not be concluded that it played a significant role in the risk of adverse outcomes, such as poorer school performance and academic achievement in children raised by a single-mother. It cannot be assumed that children raised by a lone mother is going to experience financial difficulties and develop an unhealthy sense of well-being. The study indicated that the financial resources to promote healthy well-being in children could actually be derived from the single mother herself and from extended kin. As a result, the family composition perspective which claims that the decision of parents to live apart destroys the social capital that might have been available to children whose parents live together is not applicable to explain the financial circumstances experienced by the single-mother in this study. Parenting and Disciplining also affected the child’s academic performance and social behavior. All single-mothers and adult children in the study did not report a drop in school performance or delinquent behavior. Some even tended to perform moderately well in school. This is because of most single-mothers placed an emphasis on the significance of education by investing on their children’s education and moderately monitor their children’s behavior which is found to be protective against risky behaviors. Last, but not least, this study found that extended kin played an important role in influencing the well-being of children. The extended family and grandparents played a crucial role in supporting recently separated mothers who were employed either in terms of financial and emotional support or child rearing. This study demonstrated that a lack of a father and a lack of time of the mothers in raising their children are not necessarily associated with negative outcomes for children’s education and social behaviors. What was more important was how fond and cordial environment children were brought up rather than whether they were raised by both parents or not. Limitations 24  The current study is limited to the homogeneity of the population from which the participants were selected. It is important to stay conscious of the fact that the sample may not be representative of the whole single-mother families in Thailand since this study focused only middle class families who lived in Bangkok and its metropolitan areas. If data had been collected on participants from all socio-economic classes and provinces, there might have been more findings or emerging themes for further analysis and verification. The age of the adult children when their parents divorced was another limitation of this study. Adult children who experienced their parents’ divorce when they were still very young had a hard time describing their family situations when their parents lived together and when they lived apart. Some may express concern why this study failed to capture the lived experience of single-father families. As mentioned earlier in the introduction, there were a higher number of children who were raised by a single-mother in Thailand compared with single-father. Also, due to the limitation of time and availability of data, this study will only focus on single-mother families. However, future research might be further developed to study this family configuration as they are becoming more prevalent to learn how their perspectives and experiences are similar or different from those of single-mother families. Policy Implications Understanding the family experiences of single-mothers and adult children and how these experiences affect their lives is important for the development of future welfare policies and programs to support single-parent families in Thailand. This study is also important for launching public awareness of the lived experiences occurring in single-parent families in order to improve resources or design any necessary policy intervention to address the needs of single-parent families. Although a discussion of the policy implications is beyond the scope of this study, I have identified some general issues and recommendations which may be further implemented.  Financial problems exacerbated as the separated father stopped paying for household expenses and child support. The implication for policy in this regard is to develop public policy that would guarantee continued child support payments to custodial parents in order to reduce financial hardship following family breakdown;  To extend the results that a stable single mother’s income is necessary for the child’s well-being, a national women’s development fund ought to be continuously promoted as it serves as a funding source for women who want to have greater access not only to employment, but education and healthcare services.  To eradicate the negative assumptions that are often associated with single-parent families as compared to two-parent families, public policy needs to identify and 25  support the strength of every type of family and stop stigmatizing single-parent families as “broken homes”. For example, school counselors can provide valuable assistance directly to children of divorce through counseling and indirectly through services to school administrators, teachers, and parents. Teachers may need to be aware of language which may be offensive to children of divorce, adapt their curriculum and classroom resource materials to include various family types, and plan and label events for parents, rather than specifically for mothers or fathers (. REFERENCES Amato, Paul R.. 2000. “The Consequences of Divorce for Adults and Children.” Journal of Marriage and Families 62(4):1269-1287. 26 Aquilino, William S..1994. “Impact of Childhood Family Disruption on Young Adults’ Relationships with Parents.” Journal of Marriage and the Family 56:295-313. Astone, Nan Marie and Sarah S. McLanahan.1991. “Family Structure, Parental Practices, and High School Completion.” American Sociological Review 56:309-320. Baumrind D., 1991. “Parenting Styles”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana_Baumrind Beekman and Nancy.1986. “Helping Children Cope with Divorce: The School Counselor's Role”.http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:BelKWbaDVYcJ:www.ericdi gests.org/pre-925/divorce.htm+&cd=1&hl=th&ct=clnk&gl=th Clarke-Stewart, Kathleen A. and Cornelia Bretano. 2006. Divorce; Causes and Consequences. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Creswell. 1998. In Mason, Mark Sample Size and Saturation in PhD Studies Using Qualitative Interviews. Volume 11, No. 3, Art. 8 – September 2010. http://www.qualitative- research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1428/3027 Demo, David H..1992. “Parent-Child Relations: Assessing Recent Changes.” Journal of Marriage and Family 54(1):104-117. Levinger, George. 1976. “A Social Psychological Perspective on Marital Dissolution.” Journal of Social Issues 32(1):21-47. Hammond Ronald. A free on-line Sociology of the Family textbook from Utah Valley University. http://freebooks.uvu.edu/SOC1200/ Herz Brown, F..1989. The Postdivorce Family. In Beverly A. Anderson Single-Parent Family Strength: A Phenomenological Study, Utah. McLanahan, Sarah and Gary Sandefur.1994. Growing Up with a Single Parent: What Hurts, What Helps. Cambridge:Harvard UniversityPress. Merrium, Sharan B..2002. “Introduction to Qualitative Research. San Francisco; Jossey-Bass. National Statistical Office. 2011. Household Socio-Economic Survey, 2011. Social Statistics Division, Bangkok, Thailand. Pokpong, Siwaporn. 2009. “Single Parents Survey.” National Institute for Child and Family Development, Mahidol University. 27 28