The statistics may be sketchy when it comes to kinds of families but it is almost a certainty that the number of single parent households has blown up in the last decade.
Now, more than ever, there are a lot of single parent families striving to make ends meet and live comfortably.
These are not easy tasks for a family where only one person brings in the money, but with the help of the government and other institutions, they need not be impossible ones.
Life is especially expected to be more difficult for single mothers.
While it may not be true on paper anymore, women are still considered the weaker sex.
Because of this age-old perception, she may not get the kind of income she deserves and she may be unable to grab opportunities for financial advancement.
It is not unusual for a single mother to be dragging herself through two or three low-income jobs just so she can provide for the needs of her children.
Due to this, she may not have time to be physically present for her children and might need to pay someone to do this in her stead, which will surely cause a big dent on the already meager family income.
Fortunately, single parents, in particular single mothers, are not left unsupported by the government.
There are state grants available to those who are in need of them.
The problem usually are knowing about these grants and providing proper documentation in order to qualify for them.
It is not enough that a single mother needs help; she must also be able to provide proof that she needs this kind of help.
Still, there are those who know about the possibility of getting state financial assistance but are still anxious about applying for one.
To those people, doing so will require that they fill out volumes of forms, talk endlessly with caseworkers who doubt their stories and provide plenty of documents.
The truth is that getting financial assistance from any institution requires doing these but that the effort will be worth it once the single parent receives the assistance.
Getting anywhere or anything worthwhile requires some sacrifice and for single parents who genuinely need assistance, going through these steps will be a small price to pay.
On account of the above-discussed perceived differences in the treatment of men and women, there are those institutions who offer assistance only to single mothers.
These single mother grants may be made available to the single parent, as in a loan or, to the child, as in an educational scholarship.
In this day and age, many forms of financial assistance are available online.
All a single parent has to do is access the Internet and search for them and he will surely be presented with advice on how to find them or a list of institutions and government agencies that provide them.
These single parent grants provide loads off the parent's back and will allow single parent households the kind of comfortable living that they want.