Life Satisfaction of Single Mothers(1).pptx

life Satisfaction

1. Ms Swathi B Research Scholar DOS&R in Social Work Kuvempu University Shankaraghatta, Shivamogga LIFE SATISFACTION AMONG SINGLE MOTHERS

2. Introduction The family is one of the most important institution for raising children. However, there has been some breakdown in the family structure posing some challenges to single mothers to take care of their children (Zulu, 2017). S ingle mother is a mother who raise s her child/ children without the presence and support of a partner or spouse. The world has seen an increase in the number of single mothers taking care of their children because of changing family patterns.

3. Death, divorce, separation, desertion, male migration for employment, and unwed motherhood are some of the reasons for the establishment of such families. According to estimates, between 25 to 33 per cent of all households in the world are de facto headed by women, who, economically responsible for their own and their children's survival (Tinker, 1976; Germaine, 1976-77) As mentioned in an article written by Ambika Pandit to The Times of India, 4.5 % of all Indian households are run by Single mothers as said by UN Report.

4. Single mothers possibly face different types of challenges including social isolation, economic difficulties, personal problems, stress, depression, need for intimacy, poor self-esteem, financial insecurities, social stigmas, difficulties in management of family responsibilities, guilt and these are the influencers for difficulties in upbringing of children, their future and settling down in life etc. Majority of the single mother reported that they felt lonely, helpless, hopeless, lack of identity and lack of confidence (Kotwal &Prabhakar,2017).

5. Research studies have shown that Single mothers showed lower Quality of Life than married mothers . Single mothers were more likely to have higher stress levels, depressive symptoms, and alcohol-related problems than married mothers . Conversely, one study reported that single mothers’ life satisfaction was higher in countries with supportive family policies and higher levels of gender equality (Eui-Jung Kim, 2020).

6. Life Satisfaction: Life satisfaction refers to an individual's overall sense of happiness, contentment, and well-being with their life as a whole. It is a subjective measure of one's own assessment of their life's quality and whether they find it fulfilling and meaningful. Life satisfaction is a multi-dimensional concept that takes into account various aspects of a person's life, including their physical and mental health, relationships, work, financial situation, and personal goals.

7. Factors affecting Life satisfaction among Single mothers Although life satisfaction is a subjective concept, certain background factors can contribute in increased or decreased life satisfaction of a single mother. 1. Poverty 2.Cultural construct 3. Employment 4. Reason for Single motherhood 5. No of Children 6. Social support

8. Research Methodology: Objectives: To study the level of life satisfaction of Single mothers To assess the presence of significant difference in life satisfaction among Single mothers. Universe of the study: Universe of the study comprises of Single mothers. Sampling framework: The researcher used snowball sampling technique under Nonprobability sampling method

9. Tools and techniques of data collection : The researcher used Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) for collecting the data. Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) is a personality assessment inventory developed by Diener E, Emmons A, Larsen R J and Griffin S (1985). It is a 5 item scale designed to measure global cognitive judgements of ones life satisfaction. Scores consist of a raw score (between 5 and 35). Higher scores represent higher life satisfaction. The interpretation is done as follows: 30- 35 Extremely satisfied 25 – 29 Satisfied 20 – 24 Slightly satisfied 15 – 19 Slightly dissatisfied 10 – 14 Dissatisfied 5 – 9 Extremely dissatisfied

10. Data analysis and interpretation: The collected data was coded and Subsequently, the data was entered into a spread sheet usin g Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Analysis of the collected information was done applying appropriate statistical methods. Inclusion Criteria: This study included the single mothers irrespective of reason for their marital, social, and economic status. Exclusion Criteria: Single mothers who have crossed the age of 40 were not considered for the study as it is assumed that the children are by then grown up and might be independent and responsible for themselves.

11. Results and Discussions: Data shows that 33.3 percentage of respondents show slight dissatisfaction for obvious reasons which could be due to shouldering responsibility alone, lack of social support, stigma associated or even could be the opinion that the child isn’t receiving the love and affection by both parents like any other child receives in most of the families. The responses given are based on their present experience with life which may be positive or negative experiences of being single mother. If the single motherhood is by choice, the respondent shall feel not so much in dejection and if the status is due to death of spouse or abandonment, the consequences will be tougher for the respondent to face which will have impact on the mother’s life satisfaction.

12. The mean score is 21.80, indicating the average level of life satisfaction, and the standard deviation of 5.561 tells us about the variability in these scores. The t-value of 21.472, with a very low p-value of .001, suggests that there is a statistically significant difference in life satisfaction among these single mothers. The above statistical derivations depict that there is significance level of difference in level of life satisfaction among single mothers. The life experiences of single mothers are subjective and thus possibility of differences in life satisfaction can be expected. The causative factors for single motherhood might bring differences in the way each one of them feels. Singes mothers with good family support might be feeling better life satisfaction compared to mothers with financial burdens, work pressure and a greater number of kids. Mean, Standard deviation and t-value for Life Satisfaction among Single mothers Dependent Variable N Df Mean Std Deviation T value Significance Life satisfaction 30 29 21.80 5.561 21.472 .001

13. Conclusion: Single mothers in India is an emerging context. Little or no attention is given to this new group of population. Researches have been made to identify the problem and status of children of single parents but the problems and issues of single mothers are highly neglected domain. In a patriarchal society like India, parenting of a child by a single mother is a challenging task and its will put forth lot of psychological distress and social stigma. This in spite of being a global issue, it is a current need to be researched on as the prevalence of the same is increasing in India. Changing trends in family, varied priorities of people, dynamic lifestyles somehow directly or indirectly has been triggering situations like single parenting in India today.

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