To ask you how many single parents you actually know

[cuibozo]

And age(s) of their children?

I was thinking today, I don't know any. I know a couple who split from their kids' dad and have a new partner and child(ten) though.

So how common is it?

I'll let you in on a secret. If you become a single parent they are suddenly everywhere!
I wish that had been my experience! I knew none at all for the first 7 years!
I never particularly felt stigmatised. I do feel very poor compared to the marrieds I know though. Am in a relationship now and have contemplated marriage in the dim and distant future. The main benefit to be honest would be that with 2 incomes and one set of overheads I would be much better off. I bet a fair few couples stay together for the sake of the house my sister.

I'm a single parent, and I know loads of others. All three of my best friends are single parents now too, all since I split with ex 3.5 years ago.

I love being single and have no desire to get into another long term relationship for the foreseeable future. My friends and family think this is very odd, certainly my friends were all seeing new people/online dating within six months or so of splitting with their exes.

I don't feel stigmatised at all. My kids have both said they are very happy with things as they are too.

Am I rare?

I know three. All very good friends of mine and all doing so much better on their own than they were doing with their shitty exes.

Wow, I'm so surprised at the people who don't know many! I know loads of single parents. In fact, it would be easier to count the 'traditional' family of mum, dad and kids. Almost everyone I know is single or in a blended family. Out of 3 siblings I'm the only one who isn't a single parent.

Hardly anyone, which seem odd, and seems not to fit in with the data (which I guess is from the census) about family composition. My sister and my H's ex-girlfriend are both single - both split when their children were under 5, both men were serially unfaithful, both women have chosen to remain single in the years since. However, the men in both scenarios are fulfilling their parental responsibilities lovingly and enthusiastically, with shared residency.

There is one child of divorced parents in DS(6) class at school. I can't think of anyone else, but maybe there are more that I haven't noticed.

Interesting stats from Gingerbread

gingerbread.org.uk/content/365/Statistics

Do I win? 14 years next February. (Valentine's Day was hell!)

Tried dating, not met anyone worth giving up my independence for aside from one guy but I can't have more kids so that was an issue, that was quite early on about 12 years ago.

When I first became a lone parent I wasn't the first I knew but I didn't know many, but as I - and my circle - have got older life happens! 2 bereavements, and a ton of relationship breakdowns (mainly infidelity or dv coming to light).

I've only known one person by choice and she was gay, chose the AI route as she was getting older, but she's now with a long term partner.

Off the top of my head, 12 including me, all mums.

I've just mentally run through my 10 friends from uni (graduated 1998 so we're all 39/40) that I'm still in touch with:

2 are now married with children.
6 have kids but are now no longer with the other parent of their kids - 5 of these 6 are now in new relationships.
1 is in a v long term relationship but has no children.
1 has had a few short term relationships since uni, has no kids.

So it depends how you classify a 'single parent'! Including me, that's 2 out of 11 who are now single parents. But a whopping 7/11 of us are single parents if you class it as 'no longer with the other parent of their child/ren'.

Financially, being a single parent is tough. My friends have such a lavish lifestyle compared to mine. I even earn slightly more than many of them but there are two of them, so... :)

My mum was but now has only adult children and a partner. My step mum was but ditto.

Off the top of my head I can think of 9 people I know who are single parents without a current partner. More who have new partners.

1 - me - 2 teens
4 know well/friends - teens
2 neighbours - kids aged 10 - 14/15
Lots of others through school and work