Variation by Country?

Charlie wrote:

>(and people seem too forget that single parents are just as often bereaved
>as unmarried, so there's no choice for a lot of them), but it's a lot
>harder to do well on one's own.

That didn't sound right.  So, I looked at

http://singleparents.about.com/od/legalissues/p/portrait.htm

Which said that less than 2% of custodial single parents were widows or
widowers.  Obviously, if you include folks like my mom who became a single
parent when I was 53, there'd be a lot more, but I think we're all talking
about parents raising children, not those with adult children on their own.

I don't think this number is unique to the US, but I'll admit I know less
about other countries than the US.  I agree with Charlie's main thrust, but
I think the overwhelming majority of children being raised by only one
parent are in a situation where both parents are still alive.


Dan M.