who suffers in broken families?

Not long back, I read an article from the Straits Times about dads, especially Asian dads, who are extremely hesitant in taking paternity leave even though the rights to paternity leave have become more wide spread. Perhaps, this shows that even though the Asian people are claimed to be westernized, traditional values still uphold – men are the breadwinners while women stay at home to take care of the newborn – whereas Europeans are the ones who are more willing to take up paternity leave to stay home and spend time with their newborn. Although changes are taking place in terms of equity in the roles between men and women in the working force, the traditional mindset still persists and almost unchanging when it comes down to what happens when a child is born. Nevertheless, change will probably take place in Asia which already has taken place in Europe when benefits are implemented. Europe offered some evidence that more dads are willing to take the leave when generous allowances were still given.

It is a pity, on the other hand, that the importance of sustaining a happy and healthy marriage is slowly and gradually diminishing as both genders would rather pursue goals in their career; make it big and obtain the highest status in the corporate world. Perhaps, in defense, one may argue that nothing is free in the world and that they work for a good future but the demands of work as the common theme should not be an excuse to failing marriages or delayed marriages.

Although some may argue that single parents can do just fine in raising their child single handedly, it is undeniable that a single parent will have difficulties fulfilling both a father’s and a mother’s role simultaneously. Pressure is inevitable, especially when there is a need to juggle between work as well as family. The full burden of having to work to their limit each day will definitely be overwhelming. It will be even more pressurizing when one realizes that the salary earned is not enough to cover the household as well as their children’s expenses. In the video Prof Sulfikar showed in the lecture, the documentary showed how the single parents suffered a lot with the heavy responsibility that one has to carry but only showed snippets of how the children felt when they had to spend most of their time alone.

Although the environment in every single parent family is different, I think that the children in most of these failed marriages are usually the ones who suffer the most. The lack of time spent and the deprivation of love will definitely affect the children because interaction with the family is vital when they are still young in order to instill in them the fundamental morals and values as they grow up. Perhaps, children from divorced families will still be able to spend time with both their parents following a timetable that the parents themselves have come up with but it will still affect them in some ways nonetheless. For single parents, although child care services are provided, being cared by a complete stranger is different from being cared by your own parents. Also, children from these broken families are usually disadvantaged especially when it comes to economic issues and are more likely to involve themselves in illegal activities as a form of escapism.

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