Unfortunately, we live in a world of difficult economic times. It can be difficult for parents to adequately support their children, especially if there is only one parent. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, approximately 15.9 percent of children worldwide live in single-parent households. In the United States alone, there are approximately 13.7 million single parents today, and these parents are responsible for raising 21.8 million children (about 26% of children under 21 years in the United States today). The question we must ask ourselves is: what conflicts and psychological effects do separation and divorce have on parents as well as children? Divorce is the final end of a marital union, voiding the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of marriage. between the parties. In most countries, divorce requires the approval of a court or other authority through legal proceedings. The divorce court process may also involve issues of spousal support, child custody, child support, property division, and debt sharing. Joint custody is awarded in approximately twenty percent of all child custody divorce cases. When shared custody is not granted, the court will grant one parent sole custody of the child. A court can also award joint custody to one parent. Joint custody is a court decision in which custody of a child is awarded to both parties. In the case of joint custody, both parents are “custodial parents” and neither parent is a non-custodial parent; or, in other words, the child has two custodial parents. Seventy percent of all child custody cases name the mother as the custodial parent. A “broken family” will affect the mother, father and child in different ways; with mothers usually...... middle of paper ...... 1%) more likely to have one or more total problems than those from two-parent families, twice as likely to have an emotional disorder, etc. (National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth). Works Cited See for example, Cal. Family. Codes section. 3004 http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=fam&group=02001-03000&file=3000-30071988 Census “Alimony and child support: 1989 series” P-60, no. 173 p.6 -7, and "US General Accounting Office Report" GAO/HRD-92-39FS January 1992Center for Disease ControlNational Principals Association Report on the State of High SchoolsFulton County Georgia Jail Populations and Texas Dept. of Corrections, 1992GROWING UP IN CANADA, National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (Human Resources Development Canada, Statistics Canada, Catalog no. 89-550-MPE, no. 1, November 1996, p. 91) Available from StatCan.