Loneliness among Low-Income Single Parent Mothers

This research was concerned with loneliness among female single parents who were divorced, separated, deserted, widowed, or never married at the time of the study. The study took place over a six-week period from approximately March 5 through April 19, 1973. The single parent sample was composed of women who are current welfare recipients under the Aid to Dependent Children public welfare program. Half of the single parent group were mothers with at least one preschool-aged child enrolled in a day care center or day care home situation while the mother was working or involved in an educational program. The other half of the sample was composed of single mothers who were not employed or going to school at the time of the study and had at least one preschool-aged child at home. The research attempted to assess the loneliness of these single parents in relation to: 1) employment status; 2) marital status; 3) number of children at home; 4) length of time of single parenthood; 5) income; 6) interaction with significant relatives; 7) social participation; 8) frequency of church attendance; 9) residential mobility; 10) attitude toward being a single parent; 11) educational background; 12) housing situation; 13) age of the parent when married (most recent); 14) counseling experience regarding single parenthood; 15) accessibility to transportation, and 16) the number of marriages by the parents in this study. Advisor: John C. Woodward