EAST TEXAS (KYTX) -- When it comes to single parent homes, 50 percent is the going rate in this country. Half of American women, under the age of 30, are having children out of wedlock. And half of the countries marriages are ending in divorce.
But regardless of how a single parent becomes a single parent, studies show it's the kids who often pay the price.
Less education. Less wealth. Less stability. Less productive citizens of society.
A recent study by "Child Trends" list these as the most common problems for children growing up in single parent homes.
"Everybody has something they could have a chip on their shoulder about."
Emily Kerr grew-up without a father.
"I always wondered how did she get through being both parents."
Robin Boney's dad wasn't part of her childhood either. Now she's doing her best to raise her two daughters, without a full-time father.
"I don't think they're lacking in education or anything," she said. "And I do stress on them the importance of education and the importance of going to college because that's their key."
After raising her daughters, Claire and Ella, mostly on her own for the past five years, Robin says she can understand why some single parent kids suffer.
"I hate to say, there's not enough time for me to run all over the place with my kids."
Mary Thrasher, with Parents Anonymous in Tyler, is working with more single parents than ever before.
"That does not surprise me, the numbers are growing," she said. "It's like family patterns. They learn that modeling that comes from their own family."
Thrasher says one of the biggest challenges single parents face is trying to explain to their kids what a healthy marriage looks like.
"I appreciate the male dynamic in a household, I understand the role, but it was a foreign concept to me when I got married," Boney said.
"I never got to see what it was like to have a healthy marriage," Kerr said. "That's been a little hard with my own marriage."
Emily has been married for almost 10 years and has two children, Asa and Scarlett.
"We constantly had fun but my mom was real big on eating dinner together every night and she had definite rules we knew to follow."
Emily's a sixth grade math teacher. She says growing up with a single mom not only taught her how to appreciate her own children but to connect better with her students.
"A lot of them try to use it as an excuse and I say 'no, no, I was there. I was there,'" she said. "My mom made hardly any money and I had all my supplies because you know what, we made school a priority."
Robin is learning from her past too.
"I feel like I hold myself to a higher standard because my children have to learn from me."
These days Robin's enrolled in nursing school and working two jobs. And it's all for her girls.
"I want certain things for my kids because of my history," she said. "I got married and had children at a very young age. I don't want that for my children."
She hopes the example she's setting will encourage her daughters to not grow up so quickly.
"I feel like that would benefit them in the long run and help them live the life I wish I had done."
Breaking the cycle of broken homes and single parents that can plague a kid's life.
"It's hard because the patterns continue and continue, until someone really figures it out and says, 'I want to end this. I want to break that cycle.'"
As for single parents dating, Parents Anonymous says it's best to wait until you really get to know that person before involving your children. It's okay to be honest with kids about the potential for dating but be sensitive about it. They say children of single parents often have a hard time imagining another adult or "parent figure" in their lives.
If you are a single parent, Parent's Anonymous recommends getting your friends involved in your kid's lives. Invite them to the children's ball games, recitals and other events to make them part of the family support system.
