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Along Life’s Way
Children of Today
By Lois E. Wilson
Children have always faced challenges—death of a parent, a country at
war, poverty, and others. Today, many children grow up in situations
different from the traditional family of them and their biological
parents. The list of a child’s possible living arrangements has
expanded:
Married biological parents / non-married biological parents
Biological parent with other/ married or non-married/ or same-sex
partner
Single biological parent/ mother or father
Grandparent(s) or other family member
Adoptive home/ foster home/ orphanage
Statistics depend on the source; researchers do not always group
variables the same for study. In a category of “two married parents in
their first marriage,” PEW Research reports that in1960, 73% of
children were in this situation; in 2013 the percentage was 46%. It
also reports during that same time period, the number of children born
outside of marriage rose from 5% to 41%. It is reported that Americans
are delaying marriage, and the share of people who remarry is rising.
Whether divorce rates are going up or down is debated.
2014 figures from the U.S. Census Bureau report that 58% of children
live with married birth parents, 23% with single birth mothers, 4% with
single birth fathers, and about 5% with a biological parent and a
stepparent. Some 650,000 are growing up in adoptive homes. Nearly 3
million live with grandparents, other relatives, or foster care.
Agencies in the Title IV-E program must submit data twice a year to the
Adoptive and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System. In 2017, there
were 439,465 children in the U.S. foster care system; 25% were
available for adoption.
Many children are at risk. They usually have little or no input about
whom they live with and where they live. The African proverb, “It takes
a village to raise a child” meant that a community of people must be
involved in the lives of children for them to reach their full
potential in life. It did not mean that the village took over the
entire responsibility of rearing the children.
There is a “village” right here of people and groups to interact with
children. There are churches, schools, and organizations such as
Scouts, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, 4-H, We Are the Majority, Key Club,
and Empowering Darke County Youth. The mission of the Empowering
programs is to provide after school and summer tutoring programs to
assist students in the areas of language arts and math with the goal of
Strong Students for a Strong Community. They can be reached at
empoweringyouth101@gmail.com or on Facebook.
Don’t be afraid to ask for advice and referrals. We all should care and
want the best for each child. Let’s help spread our concern and love!
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