SINGLE PARENTHOOD AND SUPPORT STRATEGIES IN CALABAR, CROSS RIVER STATE, NIGERIA

Single parenthood is a social phenomenon that has always been in existence since time immemorial and it cuts across all social strata, the rich and the poor, the literate and illiterate. According to Pollit (2009), it is a household in which only one parent lives with the child or children. Single parenthood as viewed by Achakpa (2014) is the taking of family responsibility which includes caring for children without the father's or mother’s contribution. Recently, the number of single-parent families has increased drastically and it is gaining a global dimension. In Nigeria, the existence of single parents is formerly unknown and where they existed, they were ignored as exceptional cases. The thrust of this study was to examine “single parenthood and support strategies in Calabar South Local Government Area, Cross River State”. Social learning and psychological theory were adopted as theoretical frameworks. A total of 200 respondents were used for the study. The survey design was adopted while the cluster approach and stratified random sampling were also adopted to obtain the samples for the study. A structured questionnaire served as the major instrument to generate data from the respondents. The simple percentage statistical tool was used to analyse the personal characteristics of respondents with table illustration while Pearson product-moment correlation was used to test the formulated hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The findings were income support, employment guarantees, free and compulsory education, and free healthcare significantly enhanced the well-being of single parenthood. Therefore, the study recommended among others that the government should institute a special scholarship to assist students of poor single parents who are presently enrolled in school to caution against the effect of their financial strength. Also, public enlightenment on issues of parental skills, family values, and child discipline should be done regularly as this would make for an intact family. Article visualizations