Table of Contents
Definition of Single-parent Family
(noun) A family headed by an individual, typically used to describe an unmarried parent, due to choice, divorce, or the death of a spouse.
Single-parent Family Pronunciation
Syllabification: sin·gle par·ent fam·i·ly
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /sInggUHl-pAIR-uhnt fAm-lee/
- British English – /sInggUHl-pEUH-ruhnt fAm-uh-lee/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ˈsɪŋgəl-ˈpɛrənt ˈfæməli/
- British English – /ˈsɪŋgl-ˈpeərənt ˈfæmɪli/
Usage Notes
- Plural: single-parent families
- Single-parent families occur for a variety of reasons, including choice, death, desertion, and divorce (also called a divorced family).
- Variant spelling: single parent family.
- Also called a lone-parent family.
Additional Information
- Family and Kinship Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “single” and “parent” and “family” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
Related Terms
- blended family
- conjugal family
- divorced family
- extended family
- family life cycle
- family of orientation
- family planning
- family of procreation
- family size
- marriage
- nuclear family
Works Consulted
Bilton, Tony, Kevin Bonnett, Pip Jones, David Skinner, Michelle Stanworth, and Andrew Webster. 1996. Introductory Sociology. 3rd ed. London: Macmillan.
Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).
Stewart, Paul, and Johan Zaaiman, eds. 2015. Sociology: A Concise South African Introduction. Cape Town: Juta.
Taylor & Francis. (N.d.) Routledge Handbooks Online. (https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/).
Wiley. (N.d.) Wiley Online Library. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/).
Cite the Definition of Single-parent Family
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “single-parent family.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 20, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/single-parent-family/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
single-parent family. (2014). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/single-parent-family/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “single-parent family.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 20, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/single-parent-family/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“single-parent family.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 20 Apr. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/single-parent-family/>.