CNN heaped praise on single mothers who lead 81% of American households with children under 18. According to the US Census Bureau, the number of children raised by single moms has more than doubled between 1968 and 2017.
In an article on Mother’s Day, a CNN writer explained why being raised by a single mother was beneficial for him.
“For many, a single mom can create a much safer or more stable environment than living with an abusive parent and spouse,” CNN Health reporter David G. Allan wrote. “Just growing up in an unhappy marriage has an effect on children… Speaking for myself, I’d go further and say there were benefits to being raised by a single mother, that it was foundational to becoming the adult I am now.”
Allan said he is no longer embarrassed that he grew up in a single-parent household without a father to provide guidance.
“I’m not embarrassed now. Being raised by a single mother means the opposite to me today: I have a pride in her for enduring so much (including the indignity of a son perpetually embarrassed by our situation),” he wrote.
Allan concluded:
“Let us now praise single mothers. All of them. The “weird” ones. The struggling ones. The driven ones who choose to parent alone. The widowed, who didn’t. The brave ones who divorced for the well-being of their kids and/or themselves. They are all raising about 19 million children right now, and they need all the support they can get.”
