Assessing the Effects of Single Parenting on Child’s Health in Temeke Municipality of Dar es Salaam Tanzania

The study was intended to assess the effects of single parenting on child‟s health. The study was done in Temeke Municipal Council in two Government schools namely Wailes Primary School and Miburani Secondary School, at GCD office of Police Post Chang'ombe and Kilwa Road, Municipal Social Welfare Unit, Zakhiem and Temeke Hospitals. This study had three objectives with linked tasks and questions; the study identified the effects of single parenting on child‟s health, explored the causes of single parenting and examined the ways of controlling situation of single parent families. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used in the study. Interview and structured questionnaires with guided questions were used as data collection methods. The study sample included a total of 50 participants who were Single parents, Single parented children, and 20 professionals. Data were analyzed thematically and presented in narrative, tabulation, and by using various forms of charts. Therefore the findings discovered that effects that single parented children face both in school and at home are not only several but also multifaceted. This is because no single effects that stand on its own and exist without linking to the other in the sense that they relate with one another that include physical, social, psychological and mental effects of single parenting on child‟s health. The study findings recommended that the single parents should set the time to spend with their children, talk and care for them in order to make these children understand that they are not contributors of their parents‟ problems